Bloodline
by sinisteruto
Summary: What if Naruto was the one who created the chimera no jutsu? What if he started collecting bloodline limits and founded his own mercinary organisation? What if Naruto became the greatest mad scientist ninja in the world? What if the world was nothing but a playground for him where only he and those allied to him were allowed to win? Dark Naruto
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any other series I might use for inspiration.

 _ **The Meeting**_

"Hello Naruto-kun, I see you have finally woken up. My name is Yakushi Kabuto, despite how young I may look, I am a nurse employed here at the hospital."The white haired twelve year old greeted with a kind smile. He was wearing a two piece purple outfit with a sash around the waist along with blue shinobi sandals and a brown weapons pouch on his left side. His hair was tied in a pony tail and his eyes appear to be dark in colour.

"I know. I've seen you around before."Naruto said with a hoarse voice, the seven year old Uzumaki having already established that he was at the hospital, yet again, and that his near fatal injuries had already healed thanks to his fast regeneration. Things were however different this time around, which is why there was heavy military guard around his room this time around., after all, for the first time since he was born, Naruto had not only killed someone today, but had killed a whooping twelve members of the civilian populace. Eight of them were not direct kills however as they were killed by the traps that the blonde Uzumaki had set up around his apartment in anticipation of his birthday, which just so happened to also be the anniversary of the kyubi attack.

Four of the kills were however direct kills as Naruto had been forced to defend himself while attempting to flee from his pursuers, and Naruto had slit their throats with his kunai before he was hit by crossbow shots he hadn't seen coming, some of the civilians turning out to be skilled hunters so it would seem. Following that ordeal he had went on to receive the biggest beating he had yet to receive. To make matters worse he had killed a number of them, so the civilians were never going to be content with just a beating this time around, they were going to kill him and to hell with the Hokage and his decree. As far as they were concerned, Naruto had just proven what they already knew all along, that this kid was evil incarnate.

Eventually, the ANBU had found it prudent to intercede before the boy died, because even the kyubi brat could not survive any more of those spear and knife stabs, not to mention getting stoned to death as well. The Hokage had been called to the scene, but by then the civilian populace had already scattered and gone back to their homes, at least, that was the story that was being prepared for Naruto.

"Oh well that's good, and please don't worry. I know how the other nurses treat you, but I'm not like the others. I don't think you're a demon, and as far as you killing some of the civilians, I'm sure you already know, but according to Konoha law, killing in self defence is not a crime."Kabuto said with a kind smile and an even bigger mental smirk, the cogs in his brain working on overdrive as he tried to gauge the response of the young Uzumaki.

Of course, he had no intention of recruiting the young Uzumaki, as far as he was aware the kid wasn't very talented, and on top of that recruiting a jinchuuriki would just bring the wrath of Konoha upon himself, Otogakure, and his master, and they, as much as he hated to admit it, were still far from ready to take on the might of Konoha. However, he figured it wouldn't hurt to gage the mettle of the young jinchuuriki and even if he couldn't recruit him officially, there was no harm getting him to resent Konoha, perhaps the young jinchuuriki would destroy Konoha for them, or weaken it significantly enough for them to swoop in and deliver the killing blow when the time came that Oto was big enough and powerful enough to take on another hidden village.

Nevertheless, Kabuto knew that the blonde jinchuuriki right now was completely under the Sandaime's thumb, at least that was the case up until now. Right now that was a very debatable theory, after all, Naruto had just massacred some of the civilian populace, and Kabuto knew that he had to strike now before the Sandaime Hokage could get to the young Uzumaki and start mending the fractured bridge.

"It's not?"Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, an almost relieved facial expression appearing on his facial features.

"Of course not, it is your constitutional right enacted by Shodaime-sama himself. You know, you should take time to visit the civilian library Naruto-kun. Ninjutsu is all well and good, but not all battles are fought on the battlefield. Some battles are fought in the court of law or sometimes in the council room. People will exploit and manipulate you easily when you lack knowledge. Ignorance is the biggest weakness a person can have, especial one who not only aspires to become a shinobi, but to become the Hokage. Consider this experience to be a very important lesson Naruto-kun"Kabuto said with an eye smile.

"Y-you know about my dream?"Naruto asked with wide eyes.

"Everybody knows Naruto-kun. You've shouted it out loud on the streets so many times I doubt there is a single soul in Konoha who doesn't know."Kabuto said with a small chuckle.

'Ehehehehe! I guess I can't say anything when you put it like that."Naruto replied, the blonde Uzumaki rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yes you can't. In future however I wouldn't recommend it."Kabuto said with a grave undertone.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with a confused expression, unable to comprehend why Kabuto was making such a big deal out of something that was so insignificant.

"I think you should know by now, it's not only the civilians who hate you, but also most of the shinobi populace. Imagine if one of your teachers at the academy is one of the shinobi who despise you. Don't you think they would possibly attempt to sabotage your development at the academy, especially if they thought that you were trying to attain a position that would make you their boss one day? Have you ever thought that, maybe it isn't your fault that you are the dead last at the academy? I mean, think even bigger than that, what if some of the civilians are paying academy instructors to sabotage you, I mean, if they hate you enough to try to kill you, what else are they capable of doing in their vendetta against you?" Kabuto said with a horrified and yet thoughtful expression, Naruto's own expression matching Kabuto's right at the moment, memories and flashbacks smacking into him all of a sudden. All the times he'd noticed that his script was different from the person sitting next to him, and all the times he'd realised that his taijutsu stance and katas didn't seem to match the rest of the class.

The instructors had said it was because he was special that they had taught him the supposedly advanced katas and had told him that everyone's tests were different. Were they really sabotaging him? Were the civilians really paying them to do it? Would they go that...yes, they definitely would go that far. Kabuto was right, if they could try to kill him, then there was nothing they wouldn't do to put him down.

"What am I supposed to do, how am I supposed to graduate if I'm not being taught the proper way to do things!" Naruto asked desperately.

"Well...' Kabuto trailed off with a sinister smirk as he needlessly fixed his glasses.

"What? What is it Kabuto-san?" Naruto asked anxiously, his innocent blue eyes widening as childlike curiosity and impatience took over the blonde's mind.

"I would offer to teach you but I'm nothing but a genin and I don't think someone like you would be interested in medical ninjutsu anyway. Besides, it would be illegal for me to teach you without the Hokage's consent as you are still a civilian and you and I are not clan members. The only way I could help you would be if we kept it a secret, but then again, I'm not sure how good you are at keeping secrets and I don't know if you would want to keep secrets from your jiji..."

"I'll do it! I promise Kabuto-san! I won't tell anyone!" The blonde Uzumaki pleaded.

"Hmmm...I don't know Naruto-kun. I mean, you do know that we'll both be in trouble if anyone were to find out right? And that's not all, I'll be in even more trouble than you not only because I don't have a close relationship with the Hokage like you do, but also because there is a higher burden of responsibility on me as I am a shinobi and you are, right now, just an academy student." Kabuto said in a way that made it seem as if he was unsure about what to do.

"Oh...I guess you really can't help me then. It's okay though, you've already helped me a lot already, and I don't want you to be in trouble because of me..." Naruto trailed off with a sad expression, the blonde Uzumaki squeezing tightly on his sheets as tears began to sting his eyes, though doing well to stop them from falling out.

"No actually, I may have a plan that will almost guarantee that we don't get caught..." Kabuto trailed off with a sinister smirk, unable to believe how simple and yet so ingenius a plan he had come up with. He'd discovered just how much chakra the boy had when he was performing a diagnostic jutsu on him earlier, and needless to say, the discovery had blown his mind away. That was why he knew that his plan would work perfectly. All he had to do was to teach the kid the kage bunshin technique, and with his chakra reserves, the jutsu would not take too long to master. This way, he would have the kid's shadow clone attend classes in his steed while he had the kid all to himself for the majority of the day. If he was busy on that particular day then he would send his own shadow clone to meet up with the kid.

"What is it Kabuto-san! Tell me!" Naruto almost yelled excitedly, which he would have done had he not promised Kabuto that he would hush things up about their prospective student-teacher relationship.

"Tell me Naruto-kun, how would you like it if I taught you a new jutsu..."

 **Five years later**

"It's not like you to pay me an unexpected visit Naruto-kun. Were you perhaps hoping to catch me in the middle of concocting a sinister plot against you?" Kabuto taunted with a trademark smirk and the habitual two finger push of his glasses, the medical ninja prodigy not bothering to turn around and face the blonde Uzumaki as he simply continued to do whatever he was doing to the corpse in front of him, probably conducting one of his corpse/dna experiments, which was Kabuto's specialty and favourite part of research, something that he had admittedly passed on to Naruto himself as he seemed to like playing with corpses almost just as much as Kabuto did.

"You know you're incredibly hard to sneak up on for someone that isn't even a sensor type. Nevertheless, it is your master whom I do not trust, not you, and no, I wasn't hoping to catch you doing anything I wouldn't already expect you to be doing, I just came here to get some information about my new jonin sensei, Hatake Kakashi. I was hoping you could let me take a look at what you have on your info cards about him." Naruto said as he walked right up to his sensei, standing right next to him as he curiously looked over at what Kabuto was doing to the corpse.

He was no longer wearing his orange jumpsuit, a change he had made only when he woke up this morning in order to attend the genin inauguration ceremony. He was now wearing black ninja pants with white bandages around the ankles and equally black ninja sandals along with a brown weapons pouch on his left thigh. Upstairs he was wearing a forehead protector around his head with a black cloth to wrap it around and a dark orange sweater with black stripes and an Uzumaki swirl at the back (Hokage Naruto outfit without the Hokage cloak). On his back he was carrying the **fuujin no ken** , which was actually a gunbai that he used as his primary weapon.

Every new graduate, along with the teachers and the Hokage himself had been shocked when they saw Naruto's new appearance, but even more shocking, for those who noticed, was the fact that he looked taller than he'd been the previous day and that there seemed to be a significantly less amount of baby fat on his facial features as was there the previous day. The first instinct for, well, everyone, was to put their hands in a ram hand seal and exclaim the word 'kai' as their chakra surged in an attempt to dispel the illusion, however when nothing happened, everyone was left completely stupefied.

Naruto for his part did well to pretend that he didn't notice everyone acting weirded out in front of him, the blonde Uzumaki content to just sit on his own and wait silently for the teams to be announced and their sensei to take them away. Even he however had not expected to spend four hours waiting for his sensei to arrive, not to mention having to spend so much time in the same room as Sasuke and Sakura, though it wasn't half as annoying as he expected it to be. Sasuke for the most part, apart from the few curious and suspicious gazes that were directed his way, kept to himself and refused to engage in any sort of conversation, not that Naruto attempted mind you. Sakura seemed to be split between staring dreamily at Sasuke and casting murderous glares at Naruto, though the blonde Uzumaki remained unfazed by such behaviour. Eventually she had cracked and yelled at him to stop trying to act like Sasuke, but Naruto had replied with a simple 'okay' and carried on minding his own business, a reaction that had stunned her enough to keep her quiet for the rest of the time they spent there.

In any case, they were supposed to have some kind of test tomorrow morning and Naruto was keen to pass the test so that he can become a shinobi, not because he wanted to serve Konoha or wanted to become Hokage mind you, but because he wanted to travel the world and see places, which he'd already been doing but under disguise and while having to not only leave a clone behind but also having to use the ANBU code to the security barrier that Kabuto had given to him so that he wouldn't alert the barrier squad of his departure. Now however he could go on missions and interact with the rest of the world freely, relatively speaking of course.

"So your jonin sensei is Hatake Kakashi huh, just as you predicted." Kabuto said as he stopped what he was doing, directing an inquisitive stare at the blonde Uzumaki.

"It was very easy to predict in all honesty. He was my father's student and he had an Uchiha teammate and friend, not to mention that Sasuke is the last Uchiha, thereby in need of a sharingan wielder to show him the ropes. We were always going to be in the same team whether I finished dead last or not." Naruto retorted.

Kabuto was of course the reason that Naruto knew about his parents. The medical ninja had noticed some discrepancies in the story that the third had told Naruto about his past, some very glaring ones too, and the more he thought about it the more he realised that there had to be more to Naruto's background than meets the eye. That's when he had decided to break into the sealed records section of the hospital and do some thorough research. He'd found out through his research that Naruto's mother was Uzumaki Kushina, who ironically enough, had also been a kyubi jinchuuriki, and then he'd found out that she was not only secretly married to the Yondaime, but that she'd also had an aunt who lived in the village and who had, once again ironically enough, been a kyubi jinchuuriki too and had been married to the Shodaime Hokage.

Kabuto had struggled for days to come to terms with what he had learned, so much so that he had decided to do background research about the Uzumaki family, only to find out that not only were they a prestigious clan rivalling the Uchiha and the Senju, but that they had actually had their own ninja village and were masters of seals and barriers. It became clear from that moment, as far as Kabuto was concerned that Naruto would become a lot more than a distraction and side project that he was working, oh no no no, he was going to be a lot more than that. Naruto would be the key to mastering both the edo tensei technique and completing and perfecting the cursed seal that he and Orochimaru-sama were working on, though Kabuto was still getting around to asking the blonde Uzumaki for his help regarding that.

In any case, Kabuto had revealed the information to the blonde Uzumaki, but had made sure he revealed it in a way that would not endear the young Uzumaki to neither the people of Konoha or his precious jiji. It had worked perfectly of course, as Naruto neither trusted nor even liked the Sandaime Hokage anymore, and he didn't seem to harbour any love for the people of Konoha at all, well, apart from the Ichirakus. Speaking of which, Kabuto had thought deeply about brutally severing that tie, perhaps to stage a situation where the villagers would end up killing the Ichirakus in order to hurt the blonde Uzumaki. However, Naruto's affinity for corpses and his growth in personality, growth meaning his likeliness to Kabuto over the time that he had mentored the blonde had made him abandon that plan, turned out it wouldn't be necessary after all.

Nevertheless, Kabuto had found out that the abode that Uzumaki Kushina and the Yondaime shared together was still intact and actually had a barrier warding it against trespassers. That's when Kabuto had convinced Naruto that he was the only one that could go in and that he should as he would learn more of the truth about his parents and maybe even inherit jutsu scrolls left behind by his parents, which is indeed what had been waiting for the blonde Uzumaki. Kabuto had of course taught Naruto the shadow clone on the day they met at the hospital so that Naruto could send his clone to school and then spend the rest of the day learning from Kabuto. However, they had discovered that Naruto was able to retain all the knowledge that his clone collected in class, and that's when Kabuto had decided to literally switch things up. Instead of sending his clone to school, they would send the real Naruto to school, and one clone would go to the Uzumaki family home and learn the fuinjutsu, barrier, and kenjutsu knowledge of the Uzumaki clan.

However, Naruto had rejected the idea, saying that he, the original, would spend his days doing the strength and endurance training of the Uzumaki clan and the speed, reflex, agility, and reaction time training program that his father had developed for close range fighting. He also said that he would separate his clones between sealing jutsu, barrier jutsu, kenjutsu and taijutsu kata, medical ninjutsu, and elemental ninjutsu, that he also needn't assign one for each task when he could make so many. A single reinforced clone would go to school every day for the rest of his academy years, and Naruto had grown by leaps and bounds in that time, mentally, physically, and ninjutsu wise.

"It seems like you already know a lot about Hatake Kakashi Naruto-kun, I'm not really sure what you need me for." Kabuto retorted.

"Just give me the damn info card sensei." Naruto said with a sigh of exasperation.

"Hn, I guess patience will never be your strongest suit." Kabuto retorted as he pulled out the info card, or rather, cards.

"Four cards just for one guy, seems like you've done a thorough job on this guy, as expected of you, Kabuto-sensei." Naruto said as he studied the information on his new sensei.

"Of course I did, information is practically useless if it is not collected in its entirety." Kabuto snorted arrogantly.

"Speaking of which, there is something of grave importance that I wish to bring to your attention when you're done." Kabuto said with a grave undertone.

' _He already figured out on his own that I work for Orochimaru-sama anyway, and he still hasn't gone anywhere. Maybe he won't mind helping out here and there with some of our projects.'_ Kabuto thought anxiously.

 **The Following Day...**

"Mwaaaah! Naruto no baka! Where the hell have you been! We've been waiting here for three hours already!" Sakura exclaimed furiously, wanting nothing more than to smack the living daylights out of the blonde Uzumaki but unfortunately not having the energy or the enthusiasm for it given how drowsy and hungry she was right now.

"Yeah I didn't see any reason to arrive early given how late our sensei was yesterday. I did a bit of an investigation yesterday and found out that the guy is always late, not sometimes, not most of the time, but always." Naruto emphasized the point, the blonde Uzumaki standing over his two worn out looking teammates as they sat against the tree in the cover of shade.

"T-that can't possibly be true! He's a jonin, how can someone so unprofessional have retained his position, much less get promoted in the first place!" Sakura asked with an affronted facial expression, Sasuke himself also looking at the blonde incredulously, though choosing not to voice his thoughts on the matter out loud.

"Well, it can only mean one thing..." Naruto trailed off with a grave undertone.

"What?" Sakura asked anxiously.

"He was must be so skilled, so strong, and/or so important that the Hokage is willing to overlook his deficiencies entirely in order to continue to enjoy his services to the village." Naruto said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, both Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widening in surprise as Naruto's words sank in.

"In any case, I figured you guys would be starving by now, so I brought you some food." Naruto said as he tossed two scrolls at the duo, one for each one of them.

"Naruto! Weren't you listening when Kakashi sensei ordered us not to eat anything today!" Sakura exclaimed indignantly, though the effect completely nullified by the howls of her empty stomach.

"He never ordered that we shouldn't eat, he only recommended it. Besides, if you're going to be doing any extreme or strenuous activity, then all the more reason to eat a balanced meal before activity. Kakashi-sensei was obviously playing a trick on us for suggesting that we shouldn't eat, especially considering how late he is." Naruto said matter of factly, both Sakura's and Naruto's eyes widening once again in surprise, not only at the realisation of the truth in Naruto's words but also at how smart Naruto was turning out to be.

"When did you learn to use your brain, dobe?" Sasuke said as he unsealed the avocado, cheese, and tomato sandwiches from the scroll, Sakura following in her crushes lead, albeit hesitantly, convincing herself that it had to be the right move if Sasuke was doing it.

"Not long ago." Naruto replied honestly, the jaws of his teammates smacking the ground as they stared disbelievingly at the blonde jinchuuriki, neither of them able to believe that Naruto not only didn't retaliate viciously at the object of his one sided rivalry, but that he didn't even seem to take offense at all, almost as if admitting that he had previously been incapable of using his brain.

"I'd suggest you eat up before our sensei decides to make his presence known." Naruto warned, Sasuke quickly grabbing a sandwich and stuffing it inside his mouth, or at least would have had Kakashi not decided to make his presence known just as Naruto had warned, the copy nin poofing into existence right between the genin trio.

"Sasuke! I thought I warned you about what would happen if you ate today!" Kakashi said with a relatively heavy dose of killing intent directed at the last Uchiha.

"I don't care. I've decided that your advice is garbage. Besides, you also said to arrive at five am and look what time you arrived." Sasuke retorted.

"Hmmm...as I recall, I never said that I would arrive at the same time as you did, therefore, Naruto, you automatically fail the exam for failing to follow your commander's orders!" Kakashi said as he turned and faced the blonde with even more killing intent directed at the young jinchuuriki.

"Negative. I've been here the whole time. Just because you didn't know I was here doesn't mean that I wasn't. On the contrary, you fail as a commander for failing to notice such an important detail." Naruto countered swiftly, causing Kakashi's lone visible eye to widen in surprise, Sasuke and Sakura also spotting pop eyed expressions.

"Do you have proof that you were here?" Kakashi countered.

"Do you have proof that I wasn't?" Naruto countered in return, causing Kakashi's lone visible eye to narrow dangerously at the blonde Uzumaki.

"Sakura, did you see or sense Naruto's presence before he appeared before you?" Kakashi asked authoratively.

"N-No sensei." Sakura replied nervously.

"Sasuke, did you see Naruto or sense his presence in any other way before he revealed himself to you?" Kakashi asked authoratively.

"No." Sasuke ground out irritably, the rookie of the year wondering if Naruto really was here the whole time or if he was just playing the Cyclops in order not to get disqualified, and also wondering what that meant about not only Naruto's skills but also his own lack of them if Naruto really was there the whole time and he had just not been able to detect his presence.

"So neither Sasuke, Sakura, or I were able to detect any signs of your presence, that's more than enough reason to believe that you were in fact not here." Kakashi argued.

"Sasuke, Sakura, were any of you able to detect Kakashi-sensei's presence before he revealed himself?" Naruto asked with a serious tone, totally catching the copy nin and his teammates off guard, none of them having expected that line of questioning.

"Answer the question!" Naruto ordered with a harsh tone, snapping the duo from their stupor.

"No/N-no!" The duo replied simultaneously, Sasuke spotting a confused frown as he wondered what the hell the dobe was up to.

"Nor did I." Naruto lied through his teeth, after all, he was a very accomplished sensor type shinobi, there was no way he hadn't detected the copy nin's presence, however, they didn't know that now did they.

"What's your point?" Kakashi countered.

"My point is it is that it is irrelevant whether you were able to detect my presence or not because going by your logic, you were not here to begin with if all three of us were not aware of your presence. And if you continue to insist that you were here despite the three of us not detecting your presence, then I will also insist that I was here despite the three of you failing to detect my presence." Naruto argued intelligently, once again surprising everyone with his logic.

"Then I will prove that I was here by reciting everything that Sakura did since she arrived." Kakashi countered.

' _What will you do now, Naruto?'_ Kakashi pondered.

"And I will prove I was here by reciting everything that Sasuke did since he arrived." Naruto retorted with a triumphant smirk, Kakashi's lone eye narrowing again at the implications of what Naruto was saying, because if he really was here the whole time and Kakashi failed to detect him, then that would mean that either he had slipped badly in these times of peace, or there was a lot more to the his sensei's son than meets the eye.

It took fifteen minutes for Kakashi to recite enough of Sakura's activities since she arrived to convince everyone that he was indeed present the whole time, and it took around about the same time for Naruto to do the same for Sasuke, proving that he was in fact there the whole time, and of course, neither he nor Kakashi would admit that it was only a shadow clone of theirs that had been there whereas they, the originals, had been busy with their own thing.

"And there you have it. See, I was here the whole time."Naruto said with a triumphant smirk, acutely aware that this revelation would raise suspicion regarding his true skill level, but willing to take any hit to his cover for the sake of graduating, as he was fed up of being cooped up in the village.

To say Sakura and Sasuke were livid would amount to a massive understatement, both the two top students in the graduation class equally disturbed and angered by recent revelations, though for completely different reasons. Sakura was pissed off because in her mind, Naruto was nothing but a perverted stalker who had spent hours spying on her quality time with her beloved Sasuke-kun. Sasuke was angered mostly at himself for not only his ignorance and naivety that had led him to being tricked by Kakashi and outdone by Naruto, who had seen through Kakashi's ruse, but also because of the fact that it seemed like both Kakashi and Naruto could have killed him if they wanted to without him even knowing he was dead until he met his family in the afterlife. If the two of them, especially Naruto was capable of something like that, then just how far away was he from Itachi's level, would he ever even reach that level?

 **Ten minutes later**

"Both of your comrades have done the smart thing and taken cover, not only to buy time to come up with a strategy to take me down, but also so that they can catch me by surprise by surprise attacking me. That is not only the smart thing to do, but it is also the shinobi thing to do. What you are doing however..."Kakashi trailed off, leaving Naruto and his two teammates, who were no doubt listening from their hiding spots, to put together the rest of the sentence.

"I wonder if reading a pornographic novel as you are about to be attacked with the intention to kill is also the shinobi thing to do."Naruto countered.

"Ma ma don't worry about me, I'll be fine."Kakashi said with an eye smile, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, that is, before his voice and expression all of a sudden turned cold and serious.

"Besides, a true shinobi should not be concerned with the wellbeing of his enemies, but only with the completion of his mission."

"Hehehehe! You will rue those words very soon, Kakashi-sensei..."Naruto trailed off as he adopted a one handed ram hand seal.

" **Sexy No Jutsu: Nohara Rin!"** Naruto said as he transformed into an adult version of Kakashi's deceased teammate, adult not only in age and size but also in terms of rating, as she was wearing only a blue g-string and a matching bra.

She also had far more enticing curves than Kakashi remembered and quite an incredible bust too. Her hair was longer too, reaching all the way to just below her buttocks, but she still had those brown expressive eyes and the tattoos on each of her cheeks. To complete the jutsu, Naruto would have had to say some provocative and seductive things while posing and twisting in an equally seductive manner, however, he had no idea what Rin's voice sounded like when she was alive and therefore had no idea what it would sound like as an adult. As a result, the jutsu couldn't be completed and Naruto therefore had to settle for a provocative pose, blowing a kiss at the copy nin, and using a 'come here' motion with his right index finger.

Sakura and Sasuke were not only shocked but also confused and dumbfounded by what the blonde Uzumaki was doing, so much so that Sakura was convinced that Naruto didn't belong anywhere besides a mental institution or a prison cell for the notoriously delinquent behaviour he has exhibited throughout his academy years and until now. Sasuke on the other hand was convinced that Naruto's earlier feats were just a fluke because there was no way someone could be so dumb and smart at the same time.

As for Kakashi, well...that was another story altogether. He was of course initially caught off guard by the blonde Uzumaki's strategy, if one could call it that. However, thoughts of confusion had crossed his mind, such as how Naruto even knew about Rin in the first place. And then finally...rage! Uncontrollable rage welled up in the copy nin's heart of hearts, because this...his atrocity in front of him was an insult of the highest order to him, Naruto might as well have crushed his balls and used them to make an omlet. No one was going to get away with taking a dump on her memory, of all the people, her!

"Naruto..."Kakashi trailed off dangerously, shadows hovering around his lone visible eye as the snapping sound of the copy nin closing his favourite pornographic novel reverberated around the the clearing, a terrible killing intent washing over the whole forest, enough to completely freeze Sasuke and Sakura, thoughts of suicide crossing the mind of one Uchiha Sasuke, perhaps an actual attempt might have even materialised had the killing intent been directed at him.

"Heh, I told you you would regret your words shortly Kakashi-kun."Naruto said with a tone of voice that he imagined would belong to a girl like Rin based on the information Kabuto had gathered, though of course unable to resist the addition of a seductive purr to the voice.

"You have crossed the line, and I'm afraid you are too far gone for a light punishment. Allow me to teach you a little about respect for the deceased heroes of Konoha, and to teach you about the true meaning of pai...!"Kakashi trailed off two hands popped out from under the ground, each grabbing hold of one of his ankles.

" **Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"** Naruto's real voice sounded as Kakashi was pulled under the ground, the copy nin too surprised and too unsuspecting to mount any form of resistance or manoeuvre to either stop himself from getting pulled under or substitute himself with something else to escape the trap.

It would have been bad if that was all that happened, however, that was the least of it as 'Rin' summoned a kunai and threw it with incredible power and speed towards the copy nin's head.

" **Earth Style: Earth Eruption Technique!"** Kakashi exclaimed quickly as the earth beneath him shifted and rose up from under the ground, the copy ninja pulling out his own kunai and preparing to deflect the oncoming kunai, everything happening at unreadable speeds, at least, as far as Sakura and Sasuke were concerned.

" **Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Kunai Technique!"** Rin muttered with a cross hand sign as the lone kunai turned into hundreds of kunai flying at the copy ninja. As if that wasn't bad enough, 'Rin' had hidden another kunai in the shadow of the one she threw, which meant that every kunai that appeared when she used the shadow clone kunai technique also had another kunai hiding in its shadow. This made things extremely difficult for the copy ninja as he tried to dodge and parry all the kunai that came his way, getting scratches and nicks here and there and even having some kunai land flush on his forearms and legs, doing everything possible to protect his torso and head to avoid damage to his vital organs.

' _Kuso! I didn't even get a chance use the sharingan or perform the hand seals for an earth wall. This kid is at another level altogether. Clearly the academy records were fabricated, the only question is, is Sandaime-sama responsible for this or did he simply hide his skill from everyone_ _on his own accord.'_ Kakashi pondered wearily.

"Impressive Kakashi-kun, you really have grown over the years since we last met. I don't think you would have..." 'Rin' trailed off as the sound of an extremely loud and potent explosion snuffed out her voice, the explosion, surprisingly enough, coming from Kakashi himself as it appeared as though either he suicide bombed himself, or had an explosive placed on him without his knowledge, the latter being true off course.

Once again, to say Sasuke and Sakura were shocked would amount to a massive understatement, but this time, even more surprised, and in terrible pain, was their new sensei Hatake Kakashi, who was now lying face down in a crater that had formed when his body exploded, having no clue as to how or when an explosive was placed on him, or even what kind of explosive it was. The only thing that he knew was that he was lucky to be alive, albeit, unable to move any of his limbs as he lay there on the ground, not liking at all the feeling of total helplessness and vulnerability that he was exposed to right now.

"Obito-kun! Couldn't you at least have waited for me to finish talking before you blew our sensei up!"Rin exclaimed as she directed her gaze to the ground next to her, a twelve year old dressed in a blue outfit with goggles on his head popping out from under the ground soon after Rin finished speaking.

"Ehehehehe! I'm sorry Rin-chan, but I didn't want to give him time to discover that I switched the bells with transformed exploding shadow clones when I dragged him underground."Obito said sheepishly, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura just now noticing that the twelve year old boy had two bells hanging around his own waist.

"Hnmph! I guess you do kind of have a point." Rin replied with a cute pout, Kakashi glaring murderously at the disgusting and underhanded tactics that the blonde Uzumaki was using, wanting nothing more than anything in the world right now than to torture and eliminate the abominations of his teammates that Naruto was parading in front of him.

"Hehehe! Yeah. Still, can't believe Kakashi was stupid enough not to use the sharingan he stole from me all those years ago. If he had, he might have seen the chakra in the bells and realised that they weren't the bells that he placed on his waist." Obito said mockingly, Kakashi's lone visible eye narrowing murderously at the blonde Uzu...er, black haired Uchiha standing a few metres away from him.

"What do you take me for Obito-kun, an amateur? I'm the one who made sure Kakashi's hands were too occupied for him to remove his forehead protector from his eyes, and even if he'd managed it, I made sure he was too occupied to get a chance to look down at his belt line during the battle. Mooo you always try to take credit for everything..."

"Dobe! Give me one of the bells."Sasuke demanded as he walked out from his hiding position, having confirmed that Kakashi was no longer a threat anymore. He would later interrogate the dobe, maybe even Kakashi himself now that the dobe had incapacitated him about the sharingan that Kakashi supposedly stole, maybe even forcefully take it back, but for now, he needed to pass the damn test, and for that, he needed to get the stupid bell from the stu...actually deceptively smart dobe.

"Sure."Obito said as he tossed one of the bells to the last Uchiha, Sasuke jumping far away from the bell as if it was poison or something, staring murderously at the blonde Uzumaki, Naruto having cancelled the Rin transformation, taken the second bell from 'Obito', and then dispelled Obito in that time frame.

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted one of the bells."Naruto asked innocently.

"What the hell do you take me for? A dobe? How do I know that isn't one of your exploding shadow clones transformed?"Sasuke asked irritably, now starting to truly comprehend how dangerous Naruto actually was, and also starting to wonder where the hell the dobe had actually learned such a powerful and dangerous technique, not only able to manifest real clones of himself and even his weapons, but also able to make them explode even.

' _Kuso! If I had awakened my sharingan this wouldn't be an issue. Not only would I be able to copy his jutsu, but I would also be able to see through his stupid clone transformations.'_ Sasuke thought irritably.

"Why would I try to blow you up? The mission was to get one of the bells from Kakashi-sensei, and to attack him with the intent to kill. Nothing was said about attacking you or Sakura. Besides, if I was a murderous psychopath then Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be alive right now. I would have put more chakra in the clones and made an explosion strong enough to wipe him out of existence."Naruto said as if merely talking about the weather forecast, as if defeating and eliminating an elite jonin was something any ordinary genin should have been capable of, his attempt to pacify the last Uchiha only serving to aggravate him even more than he was currently, Sasuke clenching his fists in anger and frustration, unable to understand how the dobe could possibly possess so much power and skill, having worked tirelessly for years himself and being from the Uchiha clan and yet not feeling confident that he would have defeated Kakashi so easily, if at all.

' _If only two people can pass the exam, it makes sense that the dobe would give the other bell to me. Sakura is useless and although the dobe has a ridiculous fanboy syndrome for her, even he knows that I am by far the better choice for a teammate than her. Maybe he isn't trying to trick me, maybe he is making the logical choice that will benefit him in the short and long run.'_ Sasuke concluded, though still having doubts due to Naruto's notorious animosity and jealousy towards him at the academy and of course the notorious pranking exploits he was capable of.

' _No! That dobe was obviously a cover identity, this is the real dobe. He's been hiding his true power and true self the whole time!'_ Sasuke thought irritably, the seeds of hatred once again starting to fester in his heart as he realised what a fool the dobe had been making of him this whole time, this whole time that he had been under the false belief that the dobe was the fool and that he had been the one making even more of a fool of the dobe every time they clashed at the academy.

"You seem hesitant. Let me make it easy on you, here, take this one as well, give it to Sakura or do whatever it is that you want to do with it. I'm not interested in serving under a captain that would turn his own subordinates against each other for his own amusement, nor one that would discard one of them because they couldn't get a stupid bell. As far as I'm concerned, Kakashi can go eat a dick for all I care."Naruto said as he threw the bell at the last Uchiha and turned on his heel and walked away, Sasuke so shocked by not only Naruto's decision but also by his reasons for making that decision, though also filled with self loathing for the feeling of admiration and inspiration that the dobe provoked from within him, though he was very quick and precise in ruthlessly snuffing out any positive feelings that might be directed towards the dobe.

"Wait dobe! Where the hell are you going?"Sasuke asked, well, not really asked, it was after all beneath him as an Uchiha to ask anything of anyone, oh no, Uchiha don't ask for anything as far as he is concerned, they only make demands.

"Back to the academy, maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a decent jonin sensei next time around."Naruto said as he stopped momentarily to address his former fake rival, or once upon a time real rival, before carrying on with his journey back to that hell hole of a place, which would be an even bigger hell as he would probably have to attend it himself now instead of sending a reinforced shadow clone like he'd done for the past five years.

Sasuke was conflicted, and Sakura was furious at Naruto. She couldn't believe how cool Naruto was trying to act, and she couldn't forgive him for trying to outshine her precious Sasuke-kun. To her, Naruto should have just backed off and allowed Sasuke to take care of Kakashi-sensei, and he had no right to steal Sasuke's style and act so cool. Of course, in her fragile little mind, and partially in Sasuke's as well, they couldn't fathom a few simple facts. One was that Kakashi hadn't gone all out, after all, which self respecting jonin would go all out on a fresh out of the academy student. Two was that even if he had done all he could have, he would have still not been fighting at full strength if he wasn't using his sharingan. Three was that he was defeated because he was caught off guard by the blonde Uzumaki's skill and intelligence, mainly because he had false intel regarding the blonde Uzumaki.

Sasuke understood the second and third reasons, after all, he'd heard Naruto's Obito clone say that Kakashi was hiding a sharingan behind the part of his forehead protector that was covering his left eye, and he himself had come to realise that any intel that he previously had on the blonde Uzumaki was either outdated or was never true to begin with. However, a combination of his Uchiha pride and the fact that he didn't believe Itachi would have lost to Naruto under the same circumstances, or any other circumstances for that matter, led him to the same conclusion anyway, that their jonin sensei was weak and incompetent. It also didn't help Kakashi's case that he had shown an unreal level of laziness and tardiness since they met him. Sakura's psyche on the other hand was rather simple to analyze, she simply believed that if Naruto could defeat Kakashi, then not only was he weak, but that also meant that Sasuke would have defeated him in an even swifter and cooler fashion than Naruto did.

"Dobe!"Sasuke exclaimed again.

"What now?"Naruto asked in exasperation, turning around to look at the last Uchiha with a little irritation pulpable in his facial features.

"Wait for me..."

 **20 minutes later...**

A lot had happened in the short time since Sasuke made the surprising decision to follow the blonde Uzumaki back to the village. Naruto could honestly say he had been surprised by the decision Sasuke made, after all, going back to the academy was going to stall his plans for revenge by a whole year, so for him to make that decision was surprising. Naruto of course had decided to accept Sasuke's offer to go back to the academy with him, and hadn't been surprised at all when Sakura came out of her hiding spot and followed them back, or rather, followed Sasuke back to the academy. Naruto wanted to laugh when he saw the expression on Sasuke's face, easily able to tell that Sasuke had been hoping Sakura wouldn't be bold enough to make such a rebellious decision given how much of a sucker for rules she was, perhaps hoping that she would take the bells and become Kakashi's student, thereby ridding himself of a terrible burden.

Team 7's journey hadn't lasted very long however and they never made it to the academy, a cat masked, blue haired female ANBU intercepting them and delivering orders from the Hokage that Naruto report to the Hokage immediately and that Sakura and Sasuke not return to the academy and instead go back home and await further instruction. Sasuke of course had demanded to know why Naruto had to report to the Hokage but had been swiftly shut down and told to simply follow orders or face the consequences. Naruto had sensed two more presences arrive at the location where they all neglectfully left an incapacitated Kakashi and than carry him away towards the Konoha hospital. He'd had to wait for fifteen minutes for the Hokage to let him into his office, probably a stalling tactic designed to increase his anxiety levels he supposed, but anyway he was inside the office now, the Hokage taking his merry time to light up his pipe and smoke in front of the blonde Uzumaki, something he'd never done before, Naruto content to just sit there and watch the Hokage expressionlessly, as if the Hokage was nothing of consequence to him, just another random villager.

All the while Hiruzen had been watching the blonde Uzumaki with a calculating eye, in fact, he'd been watching the blonde Uzumaki since he started battling Kakashi, and he had also watched the young jinchuuriki when he made him wait for fifteen minutes outside of his office. Hiruzen had planned to make him wait much longer, however, seeing as he hadn't seemed fazed at all by the wait, he'd realised that his stalling tactic was a waste of time and decided to let him in anyway, thinking that perhaps a face to face stalling tactic would work, which it clearly wasn't, Hiruzen, despite his vast experience and keen eye, unable to read anything negative or positive from the blonde Uzumaki, though the fact he couldn't read anything was a negtative reading on its own as far as he was concerned.

"So Naruto-kun, as you well know, I always watch over the village with the keen eye of my crystal ball, as is my duty as the Hokage. However, imagine my surprise when I happened upon a scene of you and your jonin sensei fighting..."Hiruzen trailed off, waiting patiently to see how the blonde Uzumaki would respond now that he had set the premise upon which the impromptu meeting was founded upon, a barely visible hint of frustration settling in when Hiruzen realised that the blonde Uzumaki was not going to dignify his not so subtle invitation to speak.

"Did you hear what I said, Naruto-kun?"Hiruzen asked with his usual grandfatherly tone, though the intensity of his eyes and the atmosphere told Naruto exactly what he knew, that this man was the furthest thing from a grandfather to him, that this was a dangerous military dictator that is capable of anything, good or bad.

"I did, Hokage-sama."Naruto replied simply, Hiruzen's eyes narrowing slightly at the blonde Uzumaki, not only because of his brief and dismissive response, but also because the blonde Uzumaki had addressed him formerly and respectfully instead of his usually affectionate manner in which Naruto usually addressed him.

"Is there something you want to say to me Naruto-kun? You know you can tell me anything, right?" Hiruzen asked, once again using a grandfatherly tone.

"Right."Naruto retorted simply, showing neither sarcasm nor seriousness, nor doubt or belief in that statement, simply stating it as it is, nothing more, nothing less, causing Hiruzen to sigh in exasperation, showing a weary and vulnerable side of himself to the blonde Uzumaki.

"Why won't you talk to me Naruto-kun, I thought that our bond was a lot stronger than this, I thought you knew that you could always come to me if you needed anything."Hiruzen said with a hurt expression, deciding that perhaps a different tactic was required to play on the blonde Uzumaki's emotions.

"I don't even know what you want me to talk about, and by the way you sound like a neglected house wife right now, unbecoming of a person in your position don't you think?"Naruto asked rhetorically, Sarutobi's expression changing once again as he finally confirmed that this was the polar opposite of the Naruto that he knew, clearly this person in front of him, whoever he was, was not the same Naruto that he knew, if the Naruto he knew ever existed to begin with.

"Naruto, I don't want to have to do this to you, but I will do what I have to protect the village..."Hiruzen trailed off with a threatening undertone.

"To protect the village? From who? Me...? I wasn't aware that I was an enemy to the village, when did this happen, Hokage-sama?"Naruto asked with a lot of spite in his tone, Sarutobi cursing under his breath when he realised the mistake he was making, or thought he was making, as it seemed like he was the one that was turning the blonde Uzumaki into an enemy by his words and actions today, which of course was not true, because he had done that a long time ago already, he just didn't know it yet.

"Naruto-kun, you graduated dead last at the academy, yet you managed to defeat not only an elite jonin with ease today, but someone who is considered to be a legendary figure in the shinobi world, and rated amongst the best ANBU operatives the village has ever had. As if it wasn't shocking enough that you beat Kakashi in the first place, you also used jutsu that you have never shown before, jutsu that you couldn't possibly know, such as the shadow clone kunai and explosive shadow clone technique. And finally, there is the matter of fact that just yesterday you were the shortest graduate from your class, and now you are around the same height as one Uchiha Sasuke, possibly taller. Can you blame me for being concerned by these drastic changes Naruto-kun?"Hiruzen asked innocently.

"Yes."Naruto replied matter of factly, once again completely catching Sarutobi Hiruzen off guard with his response.

"Excuse me...?"Hiruzen asked disbelievingly.

"You're not my father or grandfather for that matter, and you're not my clan head or anything of the sort. There is no reason why these developments should be of concern to you, or is there something you're not telling me?"Naruto asked the question that Sarutobi dreaded, because he knew, whether Naruto intended for it to be or not, that it was in fact a trick question, because he knew that he couldn't justify what he was doing without admitting that he was singling Naruto out, and was doing so because Naruto is Konoha's military weapon. However, if he admitted that fact to Naruto, he had a feeling that there would be no going back, he will have lost control of the blonde Uzumaki completely.

Losing control of Naruto was not only bad for Konoha, but it was also bad for him and whether Naruto knew it or not, it would ultimately prove to be bad for the blonde Uzumaki too as Hiruzen would have to get Danzo involved and use his methods to control Naruto, something he didn't want to do but would ultimately do it if he had to. There was of course another way he could go about it, but that would involve getting Jiraiya and maybe even Tsunade involved in the matter. Jiraiya would co-operate, but Tsunade was a wild card and could potentially cause more harm than good with her current anti-Konoha/anti- Hidden Village mentally.

"Are you still angry about what happened two nights ago?"Hiruzen eventually asked after staring at the blonde haired Uzumaki for what seemed like an eternity.

"Listen, I don't have time for this nonsense. So let me put it to you straight. Shadow clone technique is not the only jutsu I learned from the scroll, I don't even understand how that should not have been obvious. I learned the shadow clone variations as well. As for beating Kakashi, I also fail to see how it can be that surpising considering I defeated an experienced chuunin two nights ago with overwhelming ease when he was trying to kill me. It's not like I haven't shown the potential to do what I did today with careful planning. Speaking of careful planning, I'm the guy that stole the forbidden scroll in the first place and have outwitted and eluded your ANBU personel on many occasions as a mere academy student. As for my sudden growth spurt, that should also be obvious, if you couldn't figure out by now that my sexy jutsu is actually a shape shifting technique as opposed to the normal transformation technique, then you should probably consider naming a successor."Naruto said with an intense and yet somehow calm and composed tone and aura, Sarutobi's eyes once again darkening as he stared at the blonde Uzumaki with scrutiny.

He couldn't believe it. If the implications of what Naruto was telling him were true, then did that mean that the childish, loving, innocent, and naive Uzumaki Naruto that he thought he knew had been a mask all of this time? Had he been played and manipulated the whole time by the blonde Uzumaki, him, the professor, the god of shinobi? How was that even possible, and if it was, then had he really slipped that much over the years, or was the blonde Uzumaki just that good? Was this the kyubi's doing? Had Naruto somehow made contact with it, was it in control of him? Was it manipulating him?

There were just too many questions, and Hiruzen was sure that, given how the conversation was going right now, that there was no way that he would get the answers from the blonde Uzumaki by simply asking him, and even if he could, he wouldn't be able to trust any of those answers unless he could somehow verify them. Mitarashi Anko and Morino Ibiki were not an option, at least not yet. If he used them, he would then have to move Naruto from them straight into the root program because otherwise there would be no more trust or any love left between him and the young jinchuuriki after such an ordeal. He would have no choice but to submit Naruto into root for conditioning.

There was another option of course, they could have tried to use Yamanaka Inoichi to do the interrogation. However, there was probably an even greater risk with that tactic. Hiruzen could still vividly remember the effects of the mind transfer technique on a jinchuuriki from the time that a member of the Yamanaka clan had attempted the jutsu on Uzumaki Kushina during the chuunin exams all those years ago, needless to say, the results were less than desirable, far from it. It could be attempted if Naruto's seal could be temporarily locked tight, but he'd have to get Jiraiya for that and even then, there were no guarantees as even his student had only the most basic of understanding regarding the seal's mechanics. Sometimes Hiruzen wondered if Minato hadn't used such a complicated seal intentionally, specifically to prevent everyone else from tempering with the seal.

' _Nevertheless, I still have to contact Jiraiya and get him to make contact with Naruto-kun. My relationship with Naruto-kun seems to be irretrievable. I doubt I can ever fully trust Naruto-kun again, however, all that is needed is to keep him in line at least long enough for him to sire an heir, and then we can start all over again.'_ Hiruzen thought with a deep pain in his heart at the realisation that he might one day have to order the death of someone he once considered to be a surrogate grandson of sorts, to get rid of Minato-kun's legacy, although he would take solace in the fact that he wouldn't allow Minato's bloodline to die off as he would wait for Naruto to produce an heir, although the wait was mostly due to the need of the bloodline of his successor/predecessor's wife more than Minato's own, otherwise they would have nobody who could reliably contain the kyubi.

"Tell me Naruto-kun, how long have you been deceiving me?"Hiruzen asked as he leaked a lot of killing intent at the blonde Uzumaki, who didn't seem all that fazed at all to be honest, as if nothing had changed at all.

"Nowhere near as long as you have been deceiving me apparently, unless you actually expect me to believe that half assed story you told me about why you never told me about the kyubi."Naruto retorted in an attempt to shrink the width of Hiruzen's suspicions about him, as he wanted Hiruzen to keep on believing that the cause for the friction between the two of them was all about the events of two days ago.

"What other possible reason could I have had?"Hiruzen diverted skilfully, trying to get Naruto to tell him what his own thoughts were on the matter so that he could counter them, as he didn't want to be caught red handed in a lie by giving a response only to find out that it was a trap or a trick question.

"You tell me."Naruto retorted.

"You know I could have you arrested and interrogated if I so pleased? Surely Naruto-kun you don't expect me to believe that you also learned the Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitating Technique from the forbidden scroll of seals do you? Because I can assure you that that technique is not in that scroll."Hiruzen said with mirth in his tone and expression, not the kind of friendly and carefree mirth one would expect between grandfather to grandson, but the kind of malicious and threatening kind you would expect between two enemies.

"If you think I am afraid of measly jail time or interrogation for that matter then you are even more of a fool than I thought. I have no friends and no family, no one that is going to cry or miss me when I am gone. Do your worst, Hokage-dono."Naruto said as he put his hands together and extended his arms out.

"..."

"You can arrest me any time now."Naruto said casually, as if arrest and interrogation were nothing of consequence to him.

To say Hiruzen was dumbfounded would amount to the greatest understatement in the history of the shinobi world. He knew that the Naruto he thought he knew was unpredictable, brash and bold, but this Naruto took it to a whole other level entirely, an incomprehensible level. Everything that Naruto did and every response that the blonde Uzumaki gave was the complete opposite of what Hiruzen expected, clearly the standard methods of manipulation and intimidation were not going to work on the young jinchuuriki, and Hiruzen was finally beginning to understand that now.

' _However, he is overconfident and seems to think of himself as invincible, and that will be his downfall.'_ Hiruzen thought with an ever more painful heart as he realised that Naruto was beginning, no, was already on the path that his former prized student Orochimaru had followed, except this time he wasn't going to make the same mistake that he made with Orochimaru, even if he had to kill him, though he held hope that it wouldn't have to come to that, at least he had caught on to the problem early enough to do something about it this time, or so he thought.

"What else did you...nevermind. You are dismissed Naruto-kun, and you are not to go back to the academy. You are to go home and await further instruction, the same instructions have been relayed to your team."Hiruzen ordered, deciding that any further questioning, unless via a thorough interrogation, was practically meaningless. It was clear that Naruto would either outright lie or avoid the question completely, he also wouldn't put it past the blonde Uzumaki to just blatantly refuse to answer the question. Playing intimidation and manipulation games and playing the grandfather figure role was no longer a viable strategy any longer, now was the time for the shinobi in him to come to the fore, it was now time for him to employ the shinobi tactics that uncovered Danzo's root program, the Uchiha coupe, and Orochimaru's treachery.

 **0000000000**

" _ **That was really stupid, ningen!"**_ The deep, dark voice of the kyubi reverberated in the blonde Uzumaki's head as he read his favourite manga on the sofa. __

" _You think?"_ Naruto replied without a care in the world.

" _ **Your arrogance will be your downfall. You really think that wrinkled old monkey will let this go without a fight? You are not a person to him, you're nothing but a potential weapon for the village, the village's main asset should war break out. He will do whatever it takes to keep hold of you, and if he realises that he can't, he will kill you."**_ Kyubi said as if he was talking down to a child, which technically is exactly what he was doing.

" _I know all of that. In fact, it is exactly what I am counting on. If I had kept my mask on, I would have risked falling to the same fate as the Uchiha clan. They were eliminated because they did not know that their enemy had already caught on to their schemes and were already making plans to get rid of them. From what I hear from Kabuto, Orochimaru almost fell to the same fate and only got lucky because the Hokage lost his balls when the moment of action came. History shows that this whole putting on a mask thing doesn't work on the Hokage, probably because he has the best mask of them all with that fake grandfather thing of his he does, and therefore knows how to identify and expose one..."_ Naruto trailed off so that the information could sink in to his partner by circumstance.

" _By revealing myself the way I did, I have put myself in a position where I not only know my enemy and his awareness of my existence, but can also control his actions until I am ready to make my move. Also, now that he knows that I won't fall for his little games, he will no longer be inclined to call me in for questioning, he will rather try to hide in the shadows like the shinobi that he is and employ the tactics that I have already been planning for over the last five years. It also helps that I will no longer have to restrict myself on missions as much as I would have had to had I still kept on the mask. Of course I won't reveal everything I can do, but I also won't have to put myself in as much risk as I would have had to had I kept the mask of complete weakness and stupidity.'_ Naruto explained to his partner, not that he trusted the kyubi mind you, just that he knew that the guy literally had no one to snitch to.

" _ **That sounds like a well thought out plan, though I can't help but think that it's all just a big ball of turd that you're using to excuse the fact that you're just plain tired of being the stupid and weak little shit that you've had to be all this time, not that there's that much of a difference between the real you and that stupid mask mind you."**_ The kyubi said as malicious laughter reverberated around Naruto's mindscape, though it honestly could have been just amusement as far as Naruto could tell, because the furball sounded like evil incarnate no matter what mood he was supposedly in.

" _Hehehe! You're full of shit you know that."_

" **Hn! Don't project yourself onto me you puny hairless monkey."**

 _ **Knock knock knock**_

"Coming!"Naruto exclaimed as he closed his manga book, a curious frown etched on his facial features as he moved towards the door, sensing the last chakra signature he would have expected to show up at his doorstep.

' _That's Kurenai-sensei's chakra...I wonder what she wants? Maybe she wants to talk about what happened at the graduation ceremony?'_ Naruto wondered as he unlocked and opened the door to his apartment, feigning surprise when he saw the red eyed beauty at his door even though he'd sensed her chakra, of course wanting to keep the secret of his chakra sensing abilities for as long as possible.

"Kurenai-sensei? What are you doing here?"Naruto asked with a very convincing act, not a surprise considering he'd had a whole five year experience of acting and sneaking around with Kabuto.

"Greetings to you too Naruto-san, and thank you for kindly inviting me into your abode so that we can have a decent conversation like two civilised people. "Kurenai greeted with an emotionless stare, Naruto immediately getting a small taste of the reason behind her reputation as the ice princess of Konoha.

"There's nothing civilised about someone who deceives, manipulates, cheats, and kills for a living. However, for you, I'll make an exception. Please come in, Kurenai-hime."Naruto said with a small bow as he moved to the side to let his godess like superior in, a small, almost invisible shade of red appearing on each of Kurenai's cheeks as her eyes widened slightly, though she was very quick to regain her bearings as she let herself in.

"Kurenai-sensei is far more acceptable, let's keep things professional shall we."Kurenai said once she was inside, not even turning around to look at the blonde Uzumaki as she looked around the blonde Uzumaki's apartment, surprised to see just how neat it was, especially for an unruly boy like her current host was supposed to be, not even single item, apart from one single manga, out of place in the apartment.

"You're right. I apologise, I didn't mean to come off as someone so shallow. However, please, make yourself comfortable, sit anywhere you like."Naruto said hospitably, Kurenai deciding not to take the couch as that would create more a friendly and intimate atmosphere as opposed to the rigid and purely professional one she would have by sitting on the stiff chair in Naruto's kitchen/dining room.

"Would you prefer water, juice, or sake?"Naruto offered.

"You drink sake?"Kurenai asked with a surprised and almost affronted facial expression, unable to believe that someone so young would already be a drinker, though now that she thought about it, it would explain how he got the guts to pull off all of the insane stunts and pranks he had pulled over the years.

"Oh no, I don't like having no control of my cognitive faculties, not even for a split second. Though having said that, I have experimented on more than one occasion and found that it doesn't affect me no matter how much I drink, probably because of...you know what..."Naruto trailed off as he looked directly into Kurenai's eyes, as if searching her soul for an item that was supposed to be hidden inside of it, something that had become a habit of his due to the animosity that he had seen in so many people in the village, even the ones that pretended to be kind to him, though finding nothing of the sort in Kurenai's eyes beyond a slight widening of the eyes in surprise, whether at the fact that he couldn't get drunk or the mention of his tenant being another matter entirely.

"That's...interesting, definitely a boon for a shinobi, though there will be times you might curse your unholy alcohol resistence."Kurenai said eventually.

"I doubt it."Naruto retorted.

"..."

"So...which is it? Water, sake, or juice...?"

"Nothing."Kurenai cut in swiftly.

"I won't be staying long, I only came here to invite you to a dinner that I am organising for tonight. It is a dinner to celebrate this year's graduation class, and naturally, also for the purpose of creating a link or bond between the different teams as there is no doubt in my mind that we will be called upon to collaborate our efforts for missions at some point in the future."Kurenai said stoicly.

"I see. Well, I'd be honoured to attend your dinner, Kurenai-sensei, but I'm afraid I won't be able to attend, you see I failed the examination test that Kakashi-sensei..."

"No you didn't."Kurenai cut in again.

"Sorry?"Naruto asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I just came from the hospital, Kakashi was barely awake, but Hokage-sama was able to get the verdict out of him before he was sedated. You passed the test Naruto, Kakashi was impressed that all three of you were willing to sacrifice your opportunity to graduate so that you can remain together. That was the whole point of the test, to see how far you would go for your comrades, to see if you would throw them under the wagon for your own self interest or risk everything for each other. Congratulations, you are now officially a genin of Konoha, though one has to wonder if you really are a genin given that you just apparently easily defeated one of our legendary shinobi."Kurenai said with an intense stare at the blonde Uzumaki.

' _Perhaps I did overdo it a little, everyone will be on my ass from now on.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

"He let his guard down, and besides, he didn't even use his sharingan."Naruto tried to excuse.

"Indeed, however, a shinobi of his calibre shouldn't have had to have his guard up against a fresh out of the academy genin. I saw a replay of the fight in Hokage-sama's crystal ball, all of the jonin did Naruto-san. Needless to say, you have caused quite a stir in the shinobi ranks, some are calling you a genius, and others are..." Kurenai trailed off as she stopped herself uprubtly, realising that it might be a bad idea to finish off that sentence.

"Blaming the kyubi?"Naruto asked curiously, Kurenai's silence and aversion of eye contact more than enough to confirm his suspicions.

"They think you are under the influence of the beast, but I don't think so. I've always known that there was more to you then meets the eye, though that was thanks to...nevermind."

"Thanks to Hinata-dono?"Naruto asked curiously, Kurenai quite surprised by Naruto's formal and respectful manner in which he addressed his secret admirer.

"Y-you? You know about her feelings for you?"Kurenai asked with a mixture of anger and suspicion, almost like a mother hen in position to strike against a predator after her offspring, or like an older sister protecting a younger sibling.

"I am aware of her...interest in me. I wasn't quite sure that she had those kind of feelings for me, though I was curious to find out why not only a byakugan wielder but an heiress of the Hyuga main house felt the need to spy on me almost 24/7. I never imagined it would turn out to be something simple and straight forward like that, makes a whole lot of sense now though..."Naruto trailed off thoughtfully, also aware that said Hyuga heiress was in fact watching them even now from a safe distance away that was still within her visual range, and also within his sensing range.

"I see. I was under the impression that you knew, I thought that that might be the reason why you argued so passionately during the graduation ceremony that you should be switched with Kiba so that you can join my team. I thought that you felt the same way about her."Kurenai said with a somewhat down and almost disappointed tone.

"I can see that you care deeply for her, and I'm sorry if this offends you, but I don't actually know how I feel about her. I don't know her at all on a personal level and all this time I thought that she was a Hyuga spy or something, so I was actually a little scared of her. I wanted to join your team so that I can get closer to her and find out what exactly was up., though it is true what I said about wanting to learn from you to make up for my weakness in genjutsu. It's also true that I have a scent tracking ability to rival the Inuzuka clan and that I didn't want to be in the same team as Uchiha Sasuke."Naruto replied earnestly.

"I see. Well, thank you for your honesty at least. I...I know this is none of my business but, is there someone that you are interested in, besides Sakura-san of course?"Kurenai asked curiously.

"You want to determine if Hinata-dono has any rivals for my affections?"Naruto asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"It's just a q...okay yes."Kurenai admitted shamefully.

"Well, I think you are the only one she might have to worry about, otherwise there's no one else that has caught my interest."Naruto replied casually, as if speaking merely about the weather forecast.

"W-what?"Kurenai stuttered.

"Don't be so surprised. You're a very beautiful woman, and as if that were not enough you're a powerful jonin and you ooze perfect combination of elegance, class, and sex appeal. You also have this mysterious aura and you seem to be, from a distance at least, a very unapproachable and intimidating figure, which only makes you all the more appealing. Hinata-dono...well, I don't know much about her, but she's also beautiful and she is royalty with a powerful bloodline, and will likely grow even more beautiful over the years and become a better kunoichi as she gains confidence and masters her bloodline. She has a good shot too, though in all honesty, both of you are out of my league so I don't even know what I'm thinking saying all of this stuff."Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Aren't you being a little too honest?"Kurenai asked, completely baffled and yet strangely endeared by the blonde Uzumaki appreciation of her, and of course his blunt honesty, as Kurenai was in fact a blunt honest person herself and therefore had an appreciation for people who returned the favour.

"Really? Huh...I guess I wouldn't really know, I don't exactly have friends or anything like that and I never had parents to teach me that kind of stuff. But thanks Kurenai-sensei, I get the feeling that you've taught me something important today."Naruto said with a genuine smile, a little of his mask slipping in as the innocent and naive boy facade slipped onto his face on its own accord, probably a result of having practised with it and used it for so long.

"It's a ummm...it's a pleasure."Kurenai trailed off with a sad look in her eyes, just now realising how sad and lonely Naruto's life must have been, and still probably is

"But there are issues of concern, like for instance, how did you know that I was known as the genjutsu mistress of Konoha? No academy student should have had access to that kind of information."Kurenai asked with a deadly glare.

' _Aaah so this is what she was really after? I wonder if she came of her own accord of if the Hokage sent her? Has the cat and mouse game already begun?'_ Naruto thought with a weird combination of weariness and excitement.

"I stole a bingo book from a drunk jonin, this is the red light district after all, and I am the great Uzumaki Naruto dattebayo."Naruto said in a manner reminscient of his idiot mask, except without much of the idiot part.

"I see..." Kurenai trailed off suspiciously.

"You doubt my greatness?"Naruto asked with a mischievous smile.

"Do I doubt that an academy student could outwit a jonin and actually take his possessions without him or her being the wiser? Yes. But you were never an ordinary academy student were you? You are after all, the great Uzumaki Naruto who managed to defile the Hokage monument right under the noses of a military dictator and all of his soldiers and guards, stole the forbidden scroll of seals, defeated and killed your evil chuunin instructor, and hospitalised your jonin sensei without sustaining any injuries to yourself."Kurenai said almost word for word to the Hokage when he was updating them on all matters concerning Uzumaki Naruto just recently.

"Well when you put it like that...ehehehe!"Naruto laughed sheepishly.

"Hmmm...I'll be on my way then. It was nice speaking to you Naruto-san, and thank you for your hospitality. I look forward to seeing you tonight."Kurenai said as she got up to leave.

"It was nice of you to pay me a visit. I hope there will be many more of those in the future."Naruto said as he walked the ice queen of Konoha to the door.

"I'm not sure how much my boyfriend, Jonin Sarutobi Asuma would take to the idea of me regularly paying visits another man's apartment."Kurenai said as she turned to look at the blonde Uzumaki directly in the eyes when she was just outside of his apartment, exactly where she'd looked down at him when he first opened the door for her, creating almost a sense of déjà vu.

"Surely a powerful and experienced man like him, with such a rich heritage and family background, wouldn't be insecure enough to feel threatened by a no name wet behind the ear genin." Naruto retorted with an almost predatory smile, causing shivers to run up and down Kurenai's spine, though whether those were shivers of fear and disgust or of arousal and attraction, even she could not tell.

"Be that as it may, it would be inappropriate. I'll see you tonight at the dinner."Kurenai said before turning and walking away before the blonde Uzumaki could reply, wanting to get as far away from him as possible not because she didn't want to continue to talk to him, and not because she didn't enjoy his presence, but actually she enjoyed his company far too much, much more than she was comfortable with.

Naruto was blunt honest with her, told her exactly how he felt and why he felt that way. He wasn't scared of her like most potential suitors and wasn't only interested in her looks as proven by his apology for coming off as shallow when he called her a princess because of her outward appearance, and the fact that he wanted her to teach him genjutsu, which only proved that he recognised her skill as a kunoichi, something that was rare in the shinobi world, particularly amongst male ninja. The burden that he carried, the tortured soul that he was and how he handled said pain and burdens, and even his playful and trickster like personality, a contrast to hers yet evermore attractive to her as a result, all of these things about him only served to enhance his appeal as a suitor.

However, He was less than half her age and he was now considered to be a flight risk by the higher authorities. There was also the fact that he was Hinata's one true love and her almost sole ambition in life, and Kurenai herself was Hinata's sister figure and best friend, and had also made it her own goal to help Hinata snag Naruto one day. If Kurenai dated Naruto, Hinata's self confidence would suffer irreconcilable damage, and their bond would be forever shattered. Kurenai would be a traitor not only to Hinata but also to her boyfriend Asuma and then there was also the stigma attached to Naruto because of his jinchuuriki status that would become a shadow hovering over their relationship and even their children if things got that far.

Besides, Kurenai didn't think this could be anything more than a childish crush that Naruto had on her, perhaps because she was already fully developed as a woman just like the prostitutes, strippers, and skanks that Naruto was undoubtedly used to seeing given the location of his apartment, whereas his academy peers were still...well, getting an introduction to puberty. Nevertheless, she would consider teaching him all about genjutsu if the Hokage extended her mission beyond the brief inquiry that she had just had with the blonde Uzumaki, and she would find that out very soon as she was on her way to report her findings and try to give the Hokage as accurate a profile as she could conjure in the limited interactions that she'd had with young jinchuuriki.

 **000000000000000**

"Nai-chan, you're back. So how did it go with the Naruto's profiling?"Sarutobi Asuma asked the question that was meant to be asked by his dad, though Hiruzen didn't mind as he wanted all of them to hear what she had to say anyway.

Kurenai had been chosen not only because of Naruto's vehement protests that he be transferred to her team two days ago, and not only because he had cited his weakness for genjutsu as part of the reason he wanted to join her team, information he should not have known about her mind you, but also because she in fact was employed as a profiler for the torture and interrogation unit by trade on a part time basis, which is how she and Anko became friends in the first place. Her unusual but exceptional mastery and specialisation in genjutsu made her a master of the mind and she had an exceptional ability as a result when it came to profiling. This information was also excluded from the bingo book as her profiling expertise and part time ANBU employment was virtually unknown.

"It went well. It turns out that you have a rival for my affections."Kurenai said stoicly, Asuma, Hiruzen, and Gai's jaws hitting the floor in astonishment, and Kakashi's mask slipping off momentarily so that his jaw could extent to his crotch without tearing the mask, to his crotch and not the floor of course because he was seated on his hospital bed, supported by cushions on his back, the meeting taking place in his hospital room as he couldn't exactly leave the hospital in his condition.

"W-what? Did that brat do something perver..."

"Nothing like that. He thought that Hinata follows him around because she is a Hyuga spy sent after him, he didn't know about her affections. When the topic came up, I used the opportunity to find out if Hinata-chan has any rivals for his affections, and it turns out she does."Kurenai explained, not that it helped to alleviate the shock and perplexity of the situation.

"The brat is consistently ambitious if not anything else, wants the highest honour and title in the village and to date the most beautiful woman in the village while at it. I'd be impressed if I thought he stood a chance."Asuma retorted with an amused and definitely cocky smirk.

"He believes that both Hinata and I are out of his league, and I made it clear to him that I am already taken. Nevertheless, his romantic life is not particularly the point of our investigation is it?"Kurenai retorted.

"On the contrary, all information is relevant and important, especially his romantic aspirations. It would help me sleep better if Naruto-kun were in an intimate relationship with a loyal and trusted kunoichi such as yourself."Hiruzen said as he stroked his beard.

"Hey watch it old man!"Asuma exclaimed furiously.

"I'm not suggesting that Kurenai-san should seduce Naruto-kun, nor am I suggesting she should marry him and produce an heir, she is after all already spoken for..."Sarutobi trailed off darkly, the message loud and clear to all the jonin present, that he would have already ordered it were Kurenai not in a relationship with his son, and of course, that he could still order it anyway if he so wished, Asuma gritting his teeth furiously at his dad, once again being reminded why they didn't, and would never get along again with his father.

"It would however be unwise to make an order without getting all the information, how about we start by letting Kurenai-san impart to us Naruto's profile?" Kakashi suggested, skilfully halting the father-son clash that was about to transpire, a clash he was confident that Asuma would not win anyway, whether it was verbal or physical in nature, Kurenai not waiting for confirmation from the Hokage as she also wanted the marriage and seduction talk to go as far away from her as possible.

"He is an egomaniac, very confident in himself and his abilities. He has emotional scars that make him vulnerable, but he is also the type that will readily use those vulnerabilities to manipulate others and further his own ambitions. He is not afraid of anything, and that makes him a big risk taker, but he will also only take calculated risks and will plan a few steps ahead of enemies without the appearance of doing so. In other words, he plans far ahead but his methods put him at a great risk, partially because he is an adrenaline junkie but also because he is confident in his ability to rise to the occasion. He has a lot of love and compassion, but only for those he deems worthy of it, he is likely cruel and uncompromising to his enemies, but will show mercy if he sees an opportunity to turn foe into ally, or to use said foe in some degree to further his own ambitions." Kurenai said as she took a breath, carefully watching the reactions of her audience thus far, not surprised to see the shock, confusion, and fear in their eyes, probably none of them able to comprehend the fact that this was a psychological profile of Naruto.

"His personality overall resonates with that of the mythical trickster. He loves to have fun, to prank people, to confuse people, to toy with people, and to manipulate people, and his actions, at first glance, do not seem to have a clear goal beyond causing chaos and having a good time, but there is always an agenda, in almost each and every action taken. He is neither cruel nor kind, neither good nor evil, he just is. He does however show signs of loyalty and extreme hatred for betrayal. Friends and allies will see him as a benevolent, merciful, loving, and compassionate being, enemies will see him as evil incarnate, a harbinger of destruction. That...is the Uzumaki Naruto I met today." Kurenai concluded, an expected but uncomfortable silence taking hold of the hospital room, everyone locked deep within their minds as they meditated over Kurenai's words, Hiruzen the first one to break out of his musings as he had a few questions for the genjutsu mistress.

"That was a very detailed profile considering that you spent but only a few moments with him..." Hiruzen trailed off in a purely inquiring manner, trying to understand how exactly Kurenai was able to gather enough information to produce such a detailed profile.

"You have to use all the information you have on a subject in order to compile an accurate profile. I had information about Naruto dating back to as far as he was just a little child, from what everyone in the village knows about him, from one of my students, Hyuga Hinata's interactions with him and her innocent but useful daily spy sessions on him, from the events of two days ago, and from the events of today up to and until I left his apartment. I also factored in the information that you recently shared with us about his heritage." Kurenai explained patiently, Hiruzen not knowing whether to be proud or weary of her given how brilliant she seemed to be at her job, because he didn't even want to think about what her profile of him would look like.

"I see, but speaking of his heritage, do you think that Naruto-kun has become aware of the secrets that have been kept from him?" Hiruzen asked curiously, the other jonin widening their eyes at the implications of what the Hokage was asking, because if Naruto had become aware of it on his own, or if someone had made him aware of it, and done it in a way that would paint the Hokage and the higher ups in bad taste, then it could explain a lot of things about Naruto's recent behaviour.

"Unlikely, as he considers both Hinata and I to be women that are acres above his own league. The son of the Fourth Hokage and an Uzumaki princess, who also recently defeated a legendary jonin would have a bit more self worth than that. However it is not impossible that he does know and simply has a different criteria for judging leagues in the romantic sense, especially considering his social background. It is therefore something that is unlikely but should be taken into consideration, we are dealing with a socially dysfunctional trickster after all." Kurenai answered clearly and concisely as usual.

"I apologise for speaking out of term Hokage-sama, but I have a question I wish to pose to Kurenai-sensei." Gai asked with his game face, a rare expression on the otherwise goofy and eccentric jonin, one that merited the utmost seriousness and consideration.

"You may all speak freely Gai-kun, we are in this together." Hiruzen answered.

"What do you want to know?" Kurenai asked curiously.

"Do you think it is possible that young Naruto-kun was working together with Mizuki to steal the forbidden scroll of seals? Do you think he has a secret tutor or mentor and do you think that he learned more than the shadow clone and it's variations from the forbidden scroll?" Gai asked curiously, posing questions that were really scary to consider and yet surprisingly valid, especially coming from him, everyone looking to Kurenai with bated breath to find out what she had to say on the matter.

"Based on the video footage that we saw on the crystal ball regarding the events of that day, I can't see how it is possible that he learned more than the shadow clone. We saw him practise the technique for two hours, and we saw him read the information about it and probably its variations too since it was all on the same section. However, he never extended the scroll any further nor did he make copies of the material, so it is highly improbable as far as I can tell." Kurenai said as she took another breath before continuing.

"As far as working with Mizuki is concerned, Naruto killed him so there is no further information we can get from him. It is however entirely possible that Naruto has a private tutor or mentor of sorts, but he won't reveal the identity of said person. His explanation that he spied on a jonin on the training grounds and learned the Earth Style: Double Decapitation from spying on him is quite frankly ridiculous and unbelievable." Kurenai explained.

"Do you think Danzo could be this private tutor?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Unlikely. He doesn't fit the profile of any of Danzo's associates. Danzo is an extremist and a Konoha loyalist, Naruto seems to have loyalties only to himself and those close to him. Danzo does everything he does for the sake of Konoha and his obsession with the Hokage seat, Naruto, while in the past having appeared to have an equal obsession with the seat, seems to only do everything either for the fun of it, simply because he can, or for himself and those closest to him. Naruto also doesn't display any of the characteristics of a root agent." Kurenai replied.

"If he only does things that will benefit him or those closest to him, then do you think that he would become loyal to Konoha if those people closest to him were loyal to Konoha themselves?" Hiruzen asked curiously.

"Possibly, but it would have to be at least more than three people, one or two might not be enough." Kurenai replied.

"Perhaps four then?" Hiruzen asked as he directed his gaze at the copy ninja, everybody getting exactly what he was implying, as Kakashi was now in charge of a four men cell that included the blonde Uzumaki, though that still would leave one more slot to fill for the fourth precious person for the blonde Uzumaki.

"I'll do my best. He was willing to give up his bells so that Sakura and Sasuke can graduate, and he hated that I tried to make them tear each other to shreds to get a promotion. There might be some hope still." Kakashi replied with more hope than conviction, but hope was all any of them could do right now.

"I will send a message to Jiraiya and asked him to return, maybe he can help somehow, both as a master spy and as a person who was close to his parents, and of course as the fourth close person he would have, though I do expect you and your genin teams to make an effort too, Gai-kun, Asuma, Kurenai-chan..." Hiruzen trailed off.

"That shouldn't be a problem, but I also think that Jiraiya should let him sign the toad contract, that way he wouldn't be able to defect even if he wanted to." Asuma suggested.

"That's a good idea, but it is up to Jiraiya, I can't force him or the toads to accept Naruto as a summoner." Hiruzen explained.

"What about Kakashi's dog contract then? He said he had scent sensing rivalling that of the Inuzuka right? Wouldn't a dog summon be appealing to him?" Asuma asked as he stared at the bedridden jonin inquisitively.

"I can't do that. I don't want to appear to have favouritism towards Naruto, especially now that he has already proven himself to be a cut above the others. It could screw up team dynamics badly, I'm already anticipating a tough time sorting that out already." Kakashi replied.

"Kakashi-kun is right. The situation with Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun being in the same team is already volatile enough, we don't need to make it worse. Just remember to keep a keen eye on both of those two, and do your best to get them to open up and bond with their peers. I'll call you in from time to time so that we may share intel and decide whether extra precautions are necessary or not. Until then, you are all dismissed."

 **End Chapter**

 **The story may seem to be following the same pattern as some of my other stories, but there will be profound differences and a heck of a lot of surprises to come in the next chapter and after, so stay tuned.**

 **I gave Naruto the Orange Hokage outfit, without the Hokage hat and cloak naturally, I really like that outfit compared to the orange jumpsuit and the one with the shorts that he wears after the war arc.**

 **I'm going for Karin, Yakumo, Fuka as a pairing, but I'm also leaving a door open for other girls like Isaribi, Mei, Suzumebachi, etc etc. Kurenai is an option too, but I can't say more on that to avoid giving out any more spoilers.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed the story so far. Next chapter I am introducing Naruto's summons, I think most of you will be pleasantly surprised.**

 **Thank you for reading and take care.**


	2. Chapter 2

_**The Ant King**_

 **One month later**

It had been just over a month since the day that he had garnered a serious reputation in the village for defeating the copy ninja, though many in the village still thought that it was either a fluke or a freak incident that can only happen once in lifetime, not many people willing to believe that the dead last idiotic prankster was capable of such a feat, especially his fellow genin compatriots, many of which were still under the influence of the thorough beatings they had given to him at the academy whenever they sparred. There were however dark whispers and rumours spreading amongst some shinobi force, talks of the possibility that the kyubi brat was possibly collaborating with the demon inside of him, or even more troubling, that he had already been taken over by the beast.

Other than that, not much had happened since then and Naruto was disgusted with Kabuto for failing to tell him how ridiculous D-ranked missions were. If he didn't owe Kabuto so much for all he had done for him, Naruto wasn't sure he would have been able to stop himself from strangling the bespectacled medic to death with his bare hands.

Speaking of the bespectacled teen, Naruto was quite disappointed that Kabuto hadn't been able to broker the deal that Naruto had wanted from the snake sannin in exchange for his services regarding the improvement of the cursed seal and the edo tensei, the snake sannin citing that the mere act of allowing Naruto to help him was payment enough as Naruto would get access to two of the sannin's prized jutsu in exchange for his help. Naruto had wanted payment in the form of the corpse or live body of the dna material used for the cursed seal, Senju Tobirama's corpse, and also Senju Hashirama's corpse. It was a lot to ask for admittedly, but Naruto had been hopeful.

His request for Senju Hashirama and the corpse or live body of the guy whose name he now knew as Juugo was swiftly rejected. Orochimaru would not part with Juugo, dead or alive, and he would also not part with Senju Hashirama's corpse. Kabuto did however manage to broker a watered down version of the deal where Naruto would get Senju Tobirama and Senju Toka's corpses in exchange for his services, and a small sample of Juugo's dna that he would need anyway in order to help make improvements on the cursed seal.

The improvements were going quite well, he was already done making improvements to the Edo Tensei, and was almost done with the cursed seal too. Orochimaru was pleased with the work done on the Edo Tensei, and was impatiently nagging him to complete the cursed seal improvements too, though it was hard to tell pale sannin's mood given that they had not actually met face to face and only communicated through Kabuto and Orochimaru's snakes at times.

In any case, it seemed like Orochimaru would have to wait a while still for the cursed seal improvements as Sasuke had just rudely expressed his refusal to do another useless D-ranked mission, practically ordering the Hokage to give him something that wouldn't be another waste of time. Sakura was shocked by the outburst, though hard to really call it an outburst as Sasuke's tone seemed as even as it usually was, though there was an edge of clear irritation in it. Naruto on the other hand was relieved, because at least it didn't have to be him to do it, because God knows that every single move he made was being scrutinised lately, even something as simple as blowing his nose would probably be deemed as reason enough to interrogate him at this point.

' _Though in hindsight, I guess blowing my nose would be just cause for suspicion seeing as I've never contracted any sicknesses such as the flu in my entire life before.'_ Naruto thought amusedly.

"Sasuke! Show some respect for the Hokage...!"

"It's quite alright Kakashi-kun. Truthfully speaking, if not today, then certainly within the week I was already considering giving them a higher ranked mission. Naruto-kun's shadow clone technique, while convenient, has made the issue of a D-ranked mission quite literally pointless."Hiruzen said as he pulled out a brown folder with the letter C on the outside.

"H-Hokage-sama! Are you sure you're not being a little too hasty?"Iruka asked with concern.

"Not at all. They are ready for the mission. The D-ranked missions are too easy to fulfil their purpose because of Naruto-kun's ability to clone himself. Perhaps a more difficult mission will be more suited to force them to work together and thereby develop their teamwork."Hiruzen explained.

"I see, but I still don't think that they're ready."Iruka muttered under his breath.

"It's not your decision to make anymore Iruka. They are no longer academy students, they are shinobi of Konohagakure no sato."Kakashi said harshly, causing Iruka to swallow a lump as he shrank back into himself, realising quickly that he had slightly over extended his reached just now.

It was at that moment that Hiruzen called in the next client, which turned out to be a smelly old drunk who was also quite rude, brazenly insulting Kakashi's students and even Kakashi himself, whom the old drunk didn't think looked like much for someone who was supposed to be an elite shinobi. Nevertheless Kakashi was quick to warn him not to judge a book by its cover, though the old man, who introduced himself as Tazuna the bridge builder, did not seem entirely convinced. Nevertheless, Kakashi ordered his students to pack for a long term mission and meet him at the main gate in fourty five minutes, instructing Tazuna to also do the same as the Hokage asked that Kakashi should remain behind for a moment as he and the copy ninja left the hall and headed to the safety of his office.

"What did you want to talk about, Hokage-sama?"Kakashi asked almost as soon as they entered the Hokage's office, unable to take the suspense anymore.

"It's been a month now, I would like a progress report on all things regarding Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun too of course, especially Naruto-kun."Hiruzen asked with his hands locked together, staring at the copy ninja from across his desk with an intense but also weary expression, a heavy sigh escaping the copy ninja's throat as he answered the dreaded question.

"Nothing new as far as Sasuke is concerned. He still harbours no respect or consideration for Sakura, and in fact attempts to stay as far away from her as possible and to minimise contact with her as much as he can when he has to be around her. Teamwork drills have been going well, but only on a professional level. Naruto has somehow instilled a strictly professional attitude within the team by calling on the reputation of the other two as the rookie of the year and kunoichi of the year. He did this by pointing out that all the higher ups, other genin, and even other shinobi of higher ranking will be watching their every move from here on out and therefore anything below the highest standard of professionalism would be a sign of weakness and even a mockery to their status..."Kakashi trailed off with another heavy sigh.

"This is bad because?"Hiruzen asked with a small frown.

"Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be a bad thing, but given who we're dealing with, in particular Sasuke and Naruto, too much professionalism is not necessary a good thing, it might hinder their already subpar social skills and will create distance between them and their peers, they won't be forming any solid bonds with anyone in the village at this rate."Kakashi explained.

"I see, I suppose it also doesn't help that Naruto-kun insists on using his shadow clones to complete missions on his own. Still, one would have thought Sasuke-kun would be opposed to allowing the so called dead last or anyone for that matter to do his work for him."Huruzen mused out loud.

"Naruto is subtly playing on their ego. It was very easy for him to convince them that the kunoichi of the year and the rookie of the year and heir to the great Uchiha clan were above doing missions that equate to nothing but mundane chores that any civilian could complete on their own. He also convinced Sakura that she could spend more time with Sasuke if she allowed him to complete the D-rank missions."Kakashi said with another heavy sigh, honestly starting to regret ever even entertaining the idea of taking on a genin team, this was just not the kind of shit he needed in his life, though on the flip side, how would he face his friend Obito and his sensei when he joined them in the afterlife if he didn't even try.

"So in other words, you have allowed Naruto to completely take over your genin team, is that what you're telling me Kakashi-kun?"Hiruzen asked furiously, Kakashi hanging his head down in shame at the Hokage's brutal assessment.

"It's not easy to assert your authority on someone who is as well versed on shinobi legislature as Naruto is. I tried to order that they work together as a team to get the D-ranked missions completed, and I even tried to ban the use of shadow clone technique on such missions, but Naruto had valid arguments against everything, irrefutable arguments actually."

"Such as...?"Hiruzen asked in frustration.

"The banning of using certain techniques on missions is illegal even by a superior officer unless said technique endangers either the life and/or health of either the user himself or his/her compatriots. There is also a rule that all shinobi should put emotions aside and take the most effective and quickest method to complete a mission. These two laws directly overruled any attempts I made to get them to use teamwork on D-ranked missions."Kakashi replied with a defeated tone, Hiruzen's eyes softening a little as he realised the sheer weight of the challenge that Kakashi was dealing with, after all, how could he judge Kakashi when one of his students was not only a traitor to the village, but an international criminal, and the other had practically disowned Konoha and by shinobi law, should have long been labelled a traitor and hunted down.

"Kakashi, what do you think Naruto's agenda is?"Hiruzen asked with a grave undertone.

"Divide and conquer. He is systematically taking control away from me and moulding the team in the way he best sees fit. I don't know what his end game is, but this is what is happening right now."Kakashi replied.

"Perhaps you should have a rematch with him when you return from your mission in Wave Country. Your loss to him may be playing a big factor in the current team dynamics. First impressions are the most important, and yours wasn't a very good one. You need to rectify that."Hiruzen ordered.

"I've already tried. He refuses to engage me. He forfeits as soon as the fight begins and when I order him to fight me seriously, he hides behind hundreds of shadow clones, shadow clones that do the utmost minimum to distract me and keep me busy. It's almost impossible to track down the real one. This one time I destroyed all of his clones only to find that the real one hadn't even pitched for the team meeting that day."Kakashi explained much to both his and Hiruzen's chagrin.

"So he is deliberately avoiding a rematch? To hide the true level of his own power and skills or to keep the stigma of your loss to him as a weight hanging around your neck?"Hiruzen pondered out loud.

' _This is too much even for Kakashi-kun to handle. Where the hell is Jiraiya when you need him!'_ Hiruzen thought furiously. He thought he'd made it clear in the message that he sent that Jiraiya was to return to the village with immediate effect, that there was a crisis involving his Godson, so where the hell was he? It shouldn't have taken more than six days for him to get back here, yet it had been over a month now since Hiruzen had sent word to him. What could be so important that he couldn't get back here any sooner?

"I think it is most likely both Hokage-sama."Kakashi replied, Hiruzen closing his eyes and sighing deeply as he felt a headache coming.

' _Minato-kun, what is becoming of your son? Is this all my fault?'_ Hiruzen thought regrettably.

"Don't beat yourself up Kakashi-kun. We will get to the bottom of this no matter what it takes. We will reconvene at the completion of this c-rank mission, if nothing has changed, then your team will have to start taking B or even A-rank missions. We need to find out how much more of Naruto-kun's skills he is hiding from us."Hiruzen said authoratively, Kakashi's eyes widening in surprise at how far the Hokage was willing to go to get to the truth, but then again, given Naruto's heritage and jinchuuriki status, he couldn't really blame the man.

"H-hai, Hokage-sama."Kakashi submitted.

' _I may have to step up Sasuke and Sakura's training if we are going to be getting B and A ranked missions, especially Sakura.'_ Kakashi thought to himself just before a question randomly popped up in his head.

"Hokage-sama? Have there been any developments between Kurenai-san and Naruto?"Kakashi asked as he remembered that Kurenai actually had a far better chance to get some intel on Naruto than he did, not only due to her incredible profiling skills, but also because Naruto seemed to have a crush on her and actually wanted to be tutored by her in the art of genjutsu.

"No there haven't. Kurenai-chan has refused Naruto-kun's request to be tutored by her in genjutsu. She believes that now is a crucial time for her to get to build foundations and form a bond with her genin team and that taking on an apprentice outside of her team would disrupt the relationship that she is trying to build with her genin team, especially if the apprentice is another member of their graduation class. There is also the fact that Naruto already told everyone that he is a better fit for Kurenai's team than Kiba-kun, if Kiba-kun were to find out that Kurenai was giving private lessons to Naruto-kun..."Hiruzen trailed off, leaving Kakashi to put two and two together on his own.

If he had to be honest with himself, Hiruzen was kind of glad that Kurenai had refused to tutor Naruto in the art of genjutsu. Naruto's desperation to be in Kurenai's team and his request to be tutored in the art of genjutsu by her told Hiruzen that Naruto was very confident in his other skills, particularly the ones that Kakashi excelled in, such as ninjutsu and taijutsu. If genjutsu was his weakness, then the last thing Hiruzen wanted was for Naruto to eradicate that weakness, at least not until he could confirm whether Naruto was a friend or foe, as right now he had no idea whatsoever.

Best case scenario was that Naruto was loyal and was just a private guy who likes to hold on to his secrets, tolerable but unfavourable scenario was that he was the next Danzo, and worst case scenario was that Naruto was the next Orochimaru. Hiruzen was hopeful for the best case scenario, preparing for the tolerable scenario, and dreading the worst case scenario. He often found himself wondering where he'd gone wrong, and at which point did Naruto start keeping secrets from him, or if the Naruto he thought he knew ever existed to begin with. If the latter was true, and that Naruto never existed to begin with, then Hiruzen would have to admit that he had failed monumentally, and that perhaps Danzo was right every time he called him a senile old fool.

"I see, and I suppose Asuma wouldn't be too pleased about her dating Naruto, even if just for a little while."Kakashi inquired, though deep down he already knew the answer to that question.

"That goes without saying unfortunately."Hiruzen said with a heavy sigh, honestly, he was getting a little too old for this shit, he shouldn't even be sitting here at this age, either one of Tsunade, Orochimaru, or Jiraiya should have taken this seat by now if they weren't so...so full of shit.

"Perhaps it would have been better if Naruto had been assigned to Kurenai's team after all."Kakashi said, even though he knew that there was no way they could have foreseen the troubles that they were having now, or that Kurenai would have been so pivotal to resolving them.

 **One Week Later: Wave Island**

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura! There's no hope for me now, and there's no way you three will be able to defeat him! Take Tazuna-san with you and run, now! His water clone should dispel if he allows it to get too far away from the main body, and his main body cannot move without cancelling this water prison!"Kakashi exclaimed frantically, his students, well, two of them at least looking terribly frightened right now, but one of them, our favourite blonde Uzumaki looking calm and contemplative **,** clearly undecided about what to do but also appearing to be not afraid at all.

"Hehehe! Your sensei is right, you should run with your tails between your legs, after all, you three are not even real ninja. By the time I was your age, I had already taken hundreds of lives. You three don't seem to be even out of your diapers yet."Zabuza taunted, Kakashi's students, namely, Sasuke and Sakura widening their eyes in disbelief at what they were hearing.

' _He'd already killed hundreds of people by the time he was my age? That's...that's, he's...he's just like him!'_ Sasuke thought with realisation, a realisation that was hammered into his head as Kakashi narrated the story of the origins of the Demon Of The Mist.

' _Kuso! I haven't even taken a life yet! What have I been doing all this time!'_ Sasuke thought as he clenched his hands in frustration and anger.

' _Zabuza is right! I'm no ninja! All I've been doing is playing ninja all this time! Itachi was already a member of the ANBU at my age, and Zabuza had already killed hundreds of ninja. What have I done?'_ Sasuke thought as he descended into the darkest pits of his heart and mind.

"Hey Zabuza-san? How much is your corpse worth to Kirigakure no sato? I mean, obviously you're not going to live past this day if you're going to try and fight the great Uzumaki Naruto, strongest and smartest ninja in the elemental nations." Naruto declared confidently, Zabuza raising his non existent eyebrows at the clearly mentally challenged blonde haired ninja in front of him.

' _I would have preferred to run away and let Kakashi die, and then I can switch with a shadow clone and go after Zabuza and his accomplice myself. However, what if Kakashi survives the ordeal somehow and reports my actions to the Hokage, after all, this could just as easily be a trap that he is setting for me, otherwise he would have attempted to use raikiri already to escape the water prison, lightning is after all, strong against water.'_ Naruto contemplated.

"Heh? You're either very brave or very stupid kozo. Either way, I give you credit for not shaking like a leaf in the face of death like your two teammates over there." Zabuza taunted.

' _But then again, water is also a compliment to lightning, if Kakashi attempts to use lightning release while he is submerged, he almost certainly will sustain some form of damage by his own technique. Zabuza, having recorded a bunch of information on Kakashi in his personal bingo book, is probably also aware of Kakashi's ability to use lightning release, and is therefore banking on the complimentary elements of lightning and water to dissuade Kakashi from attempted to break out of his prison via that method.'_ Naruto reasoned, but then deciding to help out nonetheless just to be on the safe side, after all, he still needed to be in Konoha up until at least Orochimaru's planned invasion.

"Don't be stupid Naruto! You've been acting like the team leader since this team was formed, make the right call for your team! Get everyone out of here and protect them with everything that you have!" Kakashi exclaimed frantically.

"Nonsense!" It was Sasuke this time with an outburst, Kakashi's eyes widening in surprise at the Uchiha's reaction, especially considering that said Uchiha just recently wet his pants enough that he almost committed suicide.

"S-Sasuke-kun...?" Sakura stuttered in shock.

"It doesn't matter if we run or not. He'll just track us down and finish us off when he's done with you. The only way we will survive is if we can get you out of that stupid prison!" Sasuke said with finality.

"Nice thinking Sasuke, I had thought you were an overhyped moron for a long time now, didn't know you actually had a brain somewhere in that big head of yours." Naruto taunted.

"Hn! You're one to talk, dobe!" Sasuke retorted, Sakura left fish eyed at the scene that was transpiring right before her eyes, wondering what the hell was going on, as in how the hell were these two not wetting their pants like she was given the hopelessness of the situation.

"Hn, okay, so what's your plan?" Naruto asked curiously, hoping that he wouldn't have to execute the plan he had in mind as that would mean revealing yet another one of his secrets, Sasuke on the other hand face faulting at the blonde Uzumaki's question.

"I assumed you had a plan considering how much of a big game you were talking." Sasuke retorted with a deep frown.

"Does that mean that you don't have a plan then?"

"Dobe!" Sasuke ground out furiously, doing everything he could to stop himself from strangling the insufferable blonde idiot of a teammate that he had.

"Okay then, step back, all three of you." Naruto ordered with a no nonsense tone and expression.

"Don't be stupid Naruto no baka! You can't order Sasuke-kun like that, and what makes you think that you can beat that monster on your own? Even Kakashi-sensei couldn't..."

"The same Kakashi-sensei I hospitalised the day after our graduation?" Naruto cut in swiftly, Zabuza's eye narrowing dangerously at those words, unable to detect even a hint of a lie from the blonde haired Uzumaki, and honestly feeling like he was dealing with a completely different person as opposed to the idiot he was dealing with earlier, as if he was dealing with a real killer.

"E-everybody knows that was j-just a fluke...!" Sakura stammered.

' _That girl is not faking either. It's entirely possible that they are just trying to throw me off my game, but...it doesn't feel like it, my instincts are telling me otherwise.'_ Zabuza thought as he prepared himself for anything.

"Fine, just know that you will both die if you get in the way, and it won't be my fault since I warned you both to step back already."

"Naruto! This is not the time for your stupid..."

"Shut up and do what he says, Sakura!" Sasuke said furiously, the young Uchiha grabbing Tazuna by the hand and pulling him away from the blonde Uzumaki to a safer distance, Sakura frozen in shock at her crush's actions, unable to understand why he was taking orders from Naruto-baka, and why he wasn't handling the situation himself, but at the same time too afraid of what he would do, say, and think of her if she said anything, or didn't follow his instructions, the pink haired kunoichi of the year reluctantly tracking back until she was in a defensive formation around the bridge builder along with her crush.

' _He's going to be pissed off at me for this, but I don't have much of a choice.'_ Naruto thought as a he bit his thumb and placed his right hand on the ground.

" **Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"** Naruto whispered as a relatively large cloud of smoke appeared, the smoke clearing out in a few moments to reveal, much to everyone's surprise, what appeared to be a humanoid monster insect.

"It's been a long time, Mereum-dono."Naruto greeted with a serious tone, knowing quite well that his summon, the king of the chimera ants, didn't appreciate anything but the utmost seriousness, and would punish others violently for behaviour that was to the contrary, though he wouldn't dare attempt such a thing to someone who was not only his summoner, but his and his brethren's creator, the chimera ant clan being the product of the initial experiments that culminated in Naruto's chimera no jutsu, a jutsu that Naruto was currently using to recruit members for his secret organisation, an organisation known simply as 'The Bloodline'.

The chimera ants, Mereum and his brethren, originate from a special type of ant species that exists in the forest of Demon Country known as Swindler's Forest. The ants in that area are extremely large compared to normal ants, growing up to the size of a large dog at their peak, and that attribute, along with their hard exoskeletons, their super strength, being that ants can lift more than ten times their own weight, and the speed and agility of that ant species in particular, are the reasons why Naruto had chosen them as the focus of his experiments. Naruto had wanted to use his chimera technique to give the ants the strongest attributes of other species and see what would happen, if he could create the ultimate summon or animal partner.

When he realised that he could actually give them the attributes of other species, he had wondered if it was possible to give them some human attributes, after all, based on interactions with some of Orochimaru's snakes that had delivered messages to Kabuto and recently to him, summons seemed to have human intelligence and even speech, therefore, he'd concluded, it would be to his and the benefit of his summons if they too had human intelligence and speech, which is why Naruto had started fusing human dna into his test subjects in order to create the ultimate summoning species, which had been a monumental success to say the least, King Mureum being the poster boy for Naruto's accomplishments.

In any case, the success with the chimera species is what had opened the door for Naruto to refine the chimera no jutsu so that he could use it to endow himself and his comrades with powerful bloodline limits by fusing the corpses of bloodline users with his comrades. However, Naruto himself was not directly benefitting from his hard work as the Kyubi and the Kyubi's seal itself was an obstacle he had yet to find his way around in order to use the chimera no jutsu on himself, although his brothers and sisters of the bloodline were getting all the benefits, which was more than Naruto could ask for right now as he too was reaping the fruits of his labour, albeit indirectly.

"Indeed it has, Naruto-sama."Meruem replied with a calm and composed tone, an air of nobility and confidence easily identifiable in his tone and demeanour. He is a relatively short guy who looks like a cross between an ant, a human, and a scorpion, particularly with that large tail that is equipped with a stinger protruding from his lower back. He is very muscular and toned and has two antennae on his ears, along with a large shell-like armour over his head that resembles a helmet. There are dark pigmented areas on his arms, legs, chest, and head, and he is also barefooted, both his hands and feet having only four fingers and toes respectively.

"I see you have not called on me for a simple chat this time around, does this mean that you have a worthy opponent for me? Nothing less is acceptable."Mereum declared with the kind of self confidence that is required of a king.

"W-what the hell is that thi..."Sakura sputtered, her words dying in her throat as Mereum's head snapped in her direction, Sasuke and Tazuna both swallowing heavy gulps down their throats even though they were not the centre of Meruem's piercing gaze.

"Call me a thing again and I will have your tongue for lunch. You will only refer to me as Meruem-sama, or your majesty, nothing less. Do we understand each other, human trash?"Meruem asked rhetorically, Sakura barely able to summon the will to even nod her head in the positive given how scared she was, so much so that she didn't know if she would be able to even move a finger if that th...the king from hell that Naruto just summoned decided to attack her.

' _What the hell is that thing? Where did Naruto even get a summoning contract? This is bad, the situation is far worse than any of us predicted. I'll have to report this to Hokage-sama as soon as possible...if I make it out of this alive that is.'_ Kakashi thought wearily.

"Ahem, anyway, your opponent is known as The Demon Of The Mist."Naruto said out of nowhere, successfully diverting Meruem's attention away from his pink haired teammate.

"The demon of the..."Meruem trailed off as Zabuza's water clone tried to sneak attack him, emphasis on the word 'tried' as Meruem sliced the clone into pieces in the blink of an eye without even turning around to face it, his tail-like stinger doing all the work at a speed that was unreadable to the naked eye, and even that of a trained shinobi.

' _That was incredible fast!'_ Kakashi thought with alarm, the real Zabuza's eyes narrowing wearily as he witnessed the effortless decimation of his water clone.

"This is your so called demon? How disappointing."Meruem said condescendingly.

"That was just a water clone, it possesses only a tenth of the original's true power."Naruto countered.

"Like I said, how disappointing."Meruem declared with finality, Zabuza's eyes narrowing even further at Meruem's declaration, his pride wounded at the fact that this thing, despite being told that the water clone had only a tenth of his power, still thought of him as an unworthy opponent.

"Big words, for a measly little insect."Zabuza retorted.

"The only human worthy of my attention is Naruto-sama, otherwise humans are nothing but trash before the might of the Chimera Ant King. Know your place, human scum."Meruem retorted as he turned around to face the Demon Of The Mist.

"Hn! I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined I would live to see the day that an ant talks down to a human." Zabuza retorted.

"Naruto-sama, tell me a little more about this foolishly arrogant human."Meruem requested, though it sounded more like a hybrid between a request and a demand really.

"He is a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen Of The Mist, each of them wielding specially designed swords that have special abilities, and trained in the art of silent killing. He is supposed to be the best in the art of silent killing and as you can see, he also has a large repertoire of water elemental ninjutsu. He has an A class ranking in the bingo book and defected from Kiri after a failed assassination attempt on the Mizukage."Naruto explained clearly and concisely.

"He's only an A-rank ninja? I thought I told you to summon me only to fight the strongest of them all. Why did you summon me to fight someone who doesn't have an S-class ranking?"Meruem asked irritably.

"The bingo book entry was made a couple of years back, so I figured that he might have become stronger since then, especially considering the ease with which he took care of Konoha's Legendary Kakashi Of The Sharingan. However, if you feel he is not worthy of your efforts, then you need only free Kakashi-sensei from his prison, and then we can let him fight the Demon. Consider the entertainment of watching their battle as compensation for wasting your time."Naruto replied diplomatically.

"Hn, I suppose that will do...!"Meruem trailed off as he spat out a mud bullet from his mouth, a bullet that moved so fast that Zabuza was already crashing into the surface of the water on his back a whooping thirty metres away from where he was initially standing by the time he became aware of what was happening, trying to get up immediately and adopt a battle stance only to double over in pain as he felt the crushing effects the mud bullet wrecked on his liver. Fortunately for him, the bullet didn't penetrate through his flesh, but the blunt force of the impact was more than enough to make him suffer.

"There. Don't expect me to help you if you get captured again, human trash."Meruem said at the copy ninja, Kakashi glaring daggers at the King and the blonde Uzumaki, the blonde Uzumaki raising a single eyebrow at the copy ninja's reaction to being saved, feeling that a thank you was the least he and Meruem deserved.

"You and I will have a word later."Kakashi said as he turned and ran after Zabuza.

' _Kuso! That thing is strong! I don't think I'll be able to take it down on my own, especially if I have to take down Hatake Kakashi first. I might need Haku to get involved if I stand any chance of beating that thing. Where the hell did the brat get that thing anyway?'_ Zabuza thought as he finally managed to get back to his feet, just in time too as a pissed off Hatake Kakashi arrived to face him for round two.

 **Twenty Minutes Later**

"Who the hell are you?"Sasuke asked as what looked like a masked guy not much older than he and his team were arrived at the battle scene, the guy who had just killed Zabuza with nothing but a few well placed senbon, after Kakashi-sensei had gone through hell and back just to get an advantage on the guy.

"I am a hunter ninja from Kirigakure's Undertaker Unit. I've been tracking this guy for a long time and I finally caught up to him, thanks in part to your mentor."The masked teen replied robotically.

"How old are you?"Sasuke demanded, frustration and anger permeable in his tone and body language, as if it wasn't bad enough that Naruto seemed to possess way more power than he did, if it turned out that this guy was also in his age group, Sasuke wasn't sure how he would be able to keep himself together.

"About a year or so older than you, though I'm not supposed to give out any information about myself, I'm sure you understand."The masked teen replied robotically, a deep frown etching itself onto Sasuke's facial features as he clenched his hands in frustration.

' _What have I been doing all this time! Naruto is...Naruto is clearly stronger than me, that no eyebrows freak was stronger than I am now when he was only ten years old, and now this guy is an elite ninja of his village even though he is only one year older than me. What am I supposed to do to get stronger? How am I ever going to become strong enough to kill Itachi at this rate? Am I really that weak?'_ Sasuke thought in frustration.

"In any case, I will take this corpse with me and dispose of it, thank you for your help, Hatake Kakashi-san."

"Wait just a moment, why don't you dispose of the body here, right in front of us? Isn't that standard protocol for you Hunter Ninja, to dispose of the body at the place of death, as quickly as possible?"Meruem inquired with a suspicious gaze.

' _Meruem-dono is correct, there's something wrong about...I see now, he must be the hyoton bloodline limit user, just as I initially suspected when I sensed his presence. I must be losing my touch, I should have realised he was lying about being a hunter nin, after all, he did arrive at the same time as Zabuza.'_ Naruto thought self critically.

"Kill them both Meruem-dono, he's not a hunter nin, he's Zabuza's partner!"Naruto ordered hastily, Meruem, in the blink of an eye, sprinting towards the masked hunter ninja with the intention to maim and kill, however, much to his and everyone's surprise, a mirror made out of ice appeared right in front of him, causing him to crash into it, or so Naruto, Kakashi, and Meruem thought would happen, as instead of crashing into the mirror, Meruem seemed to get sucked into it, disappearing completely into the mirror only to appear a few metres away, flying out of another mirror that had manifested out of thin air and skidding to a halt a distance away. The masked teen, acting quickly, formed another ice mirror in which he and Zabuza disappeared, Kakashi attempting to follow them into the mirror only to, much to his surprise, crash into the mirror and fall flat on his back.

' _So he can decide who gets teleported and who doesn't? What an interesting guy. He will make the perfect present for Esdese when I present his body to her.'_ Naruto thought with a small smirk.

Esdese was one of the members Naruto had recruited for The Bloodline, however, she was stuck in Snow Country and unable to leave because her whole ninjutsu repertoire required the freezing temperatures of Snow Country in order for her to use it. Without the conditions of Snow Country, Esdese wouldn't be able to use her ice style ninjutsu, because unlike Zabuza's accomplice, she didn't have the hyoton bloodline limit.

There was of course another reason for her to remain in Snow Country for now, that being specifically for the protection of Koyuki-hime until such a time that Naruto ordered her to take out Dotou and his thugs so that Koyuki-hime could take her rightful place as the Princess/Daimyo of Snow Country. The reason Naruto had held off on that order was because of the fact that Koyuki-hime wanted to use her father's device to turn Snow Country into Spring Country, however, as Esdese would lose her ability to use hyoton techniques if such a scenario played out, she had only agreed to protect Koyuki-hime but not to help her any further than that. But with Haku's corpse, Naruto would be able to persuade Esdese to go through with their plans and take part in missions outside of Snow Country after that.

"That insolent ningen! How dare he embarrass me like this! Naruto-sama, summon Pitou and Cheetu, I want to use their abilities to corner this cowardly human trash and make him fight me head on!"Meruem ordered impatiently.

Naruto understood immediately the reason why Meruem wanted the help of those two in particular. Pitou is a sensor type with an incredible sensing range, which would prove useful for tracking down a teleporter like the masked ice user, and Cheetu's ability would enable him to transport both Meruem and the masked hyoton user to an alternate dimension that he usually transports his opponents in order to force them to play tag with him, though in this case it would be to prevent the hyoton user from teleporting away, thereby forcing him to engage Meruem-dono.

"Okay, but make sure you keep his corpse intact, both their corpses actually. I also want Zabuza's sword delivered to me."Naruto ordered as he bit his thumb again, the previous bite having already healed a long time ago.

' _I'll summon Flutter as well just in case the masked ice user is also good with chakra cloaking barriers, so that he can use his dragon flies to track them down.'_ Naruto thought.

" **Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"** Naruto whispered with his hands clasped together, three new figures becoming visible once the smoke faded away.

One of the figures is a very tall and lithe figure wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, with purple hair and the fur and stripes of cheetah covering his entire body, and unsurprisingly, his face and the lower parts of his legs resembling those of a cheetah too. The other figure, the one who was air borne, basically looked like a humanoid dragon fly who seemed to be wearing an old fashioned dress, old fashioned as in the type of clothing one would expect from an old lady. Finally, the third figure looked the most humanoid of them all, in fact, were it not for the long tail, exoskeleton-like knees, and the cat-like ears at the top of her head, anyone would be forgiven for mistaking her for a human. She had razor sharp teeth, but so did Zabuza, so that feature alone didn't do anything to harm her human appearance. She was wearing orange knee length shorts, a blue blazer and black shoes, showing that she had a strange fashion sense just like her kin.

"Nyowruto-sama!" The aforementioned chimera ant exclaimed with child like giddiness as she tackled the blonde Uzumaki to the ground, a resounding 'ooph!' coming from the blonde Uzumaki upon impact as he was unexpectedly taken down, the humanoid feline creature, now identifiable as a female chimera ant by Naruto's peers judging by her bust and pitch of voice, wrapping her strong and long tail around the blonde jinchuuriki's arms to restrict him and then proceeding to, for lack of a better term, lick the shit out of his face before sticking her tongue into his mouth as she initiated a very sloppy but passionate kiss with her summoner.

The kiss lasted for at least forty seconds as she felt the blonde up all over his body, and for a while there everyone thought that she would strip him down and ride the brains out of him right then and there. Kakashi, despite himself, couldn't help but to be turned on by the scene transpiring right before his eyes, discretely wiping the blood from his nose and wondering if maybe he should write to Jiraiya-sama and request that he make a beastiality volume of the icha icha series.

Sasuke on the one hand was caught between two...many minds. On the one hand he was envious of Naruto, as he had no idea what it felt like to be with a woman, not even having gone as far as first base, and yet on the other hand he felt disgusted by the act of a human being and an animal, albeit a very attractive looking animal, being together like that. Yet, his body seemed to react in the opposite of his mind as he found himself having to stick his hands into his pockets in an effort to hide his erection.

Sakura wasn't faring any better, struggling between her hormones and the urge to stomp Naruto to death for doing something so perverted in front of her, especially at a time like this. Still, deep down, she knew she wouldn't have minded if it were her and Sasuke doing something like this, she would prefer they do it in a more private setting of course, but if a public setting was her only chance to snare the love of her life into her clutches, then she would not let the opportunity pass her by.

"Mmmmm, I missed you so much Nyowruto-sama, I wish you'd summon me more often."The sexy feline said as she smothered and dry humped the blonde Uzumaki.

"What are you doing, Pitou?"Meruem asked with a disgusted tone.

"Nyaaah!"Pitou cried as she jumped as far away from the blonde Uzumaki as she could, almost as if Naruto had just electrocuted her or something.

"Y-your majesty! W-what are y-you doing h-here?"Pitou stuttered with a wide eyed expression.

"That's my line. Is that any way to behave during a mission? Remind me to punish you when our business here is done." Meruem said with a grave undertone.

"I beg of you to forgive her, Meruem-dono. It is my fault for allowing her to behave in such a manner. I will personally see to it that the situation is rectified. You won't have to worry about such behaviour neither in a public setting or on a mission."Naruto apologised eloquently.

"I forgive her, but she will receive her punishment nevertheless when we return. My brethren need to understand that no exceptions will be made." Meruem retorted.

"Okay, I understand."Naruto replied with an apologetic look to Pitou, Pitou returning the look with a genuinely happy smile, happy not only because Naruto-sama fought for her, but also because the King, despite his displeasure and subtlety, pretty much gave her permission to carry on in her pursuit of Naruto-sama as a mate, after all, by his own words, the only reason he was displeased was not necessarily because she basically sexually assaulted Naruto-sama, but because she did it during a mission.

"Haaah! Young love."Cheetu said with an amused tone, causing a hue of red to spread across Pitou's cheeks, this being one of the few times the white haired feline would curse her human-like skin tone as it wasn't very effective in terms of hiding her emotions.

"Ahem! As much as I would like to join you in making Pitou-sama as uncomfortable as possible, I believe that now is not the time, Cheetu. I believe Meruem-sama would not have had us summoned unless there was something important he had to say to us."Flutter said with a deep and masculine voice, causing Sasuke, Sakura, Tazuna, and Kakashi to figuratively scratch their heads in confusion, each one of them wondering why the hell that thing was wearing a dress if it was in fact a guy.

"Flutter, It seems like you are the only competent one of my brethren, but rest assured, I will rectify the situation as soon as we return to our home. Right now I want you all to follow me, I will explain everything on the way. See to it that you keep up."Meruem ordered as he disappeared in a burst of speed, not even bothering to ask why Naruto had summoned Flutter as he had figured it out almost instantly, the others quickly scurrying behind him as they attempted to keep up with the king. Thankfully, both Pitou and Cheetu were speedsters and Flutter's ability to fly gave him an advantage in long distance travelling.

' _That was fast, way too fast! That was celestial gates level speed, fifth gate at the very least!'_ Kakashi thought with wide eyes.

"His majesty Meruem-dono will take care of the threat. We should head towards Tazuna-san's place and set up a parameter in case either Zabuza has other accomplices, or Gato has contracted another assassin. Both scenarios are unlikely, but we should exercise caution nonetheless."Naruto suggested, Kakashi giving him one of too many suspicious gazes that the blonde Uzumaki had been subjected to since he joined the copy ninja's team, Kakashi asking himself a whole lot of questions about the blonde Uzumaki, least of all why the blonde Uzumaki spoke as if he had been in this situation many times before, as if he was a shinobi veteran as opposed to the wet behind the ear genin he was supposed to be.

However, despite his many reservations, and many more questions, Kakashi knew that Naruto was absolutely right, and he also knew that now was not the time to interrogate the blonde jinchuuriki. He barely had enough chakra as it is to defend himself should another attack become imminent, and as much as he was loath to admit it, Naruto was their only hope of survival at the moment if there really was another attack coming soon, which wasn't much considering that at this point, Danzo and his root army aside, Naruto was the least trustworthy Konoha shinobi that copy ninja knew.

"Good idea, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto! Form a triangle defensive formation around Tazuna-san as we...head...on...wards..."Kakashi trailed off as he lost consciousness, the small effort of taking a single step forward proving too much for the physically and mentally exhausted copy ninja, and more importantly, chakra exhausted copy ninja, as he fell face first on the ground.

"K-Kakashi-sense!"Sakura cried frantically, a shocked and fearful expression laced on her facial features, Sasuke trying to hide his concern but also clearly rattled by the sudden collapse of his sensei.

' _I was wondering how long he was going to be able to keep up that facade.'_ The blonde Uzumaki thought as he created two shadow clones so that they can carry the copy ninja, his chakra sensing ability having enabled him to predict this sort of outcome.

"Don't worry, he won't die. He is just suffering from severe chakra exhaustion, but not severe enough to cause death I think. Focus on protecting Tazuna-san, my shadow clones and I will handle the rest."Naruto ordered authoratively, Sasuke's left eyebrow twitching slightly at being ordered around by the dobe, however managing to restrain himself due to the gravity of the situation, being honest enough with himself to realise that he was currently out of his depth, though that didn't make him feel any less insulted and agitated.

 **Following Morning: Tazuna's House**

To say Naruto was in a good mood this morning would equate to the greatest understatement of all time. He was in such a good mood that he'd even gotten up early to help Tsunami with her breakfast preparations. The scarcity of food and money in the household, all due to Gato's tyranny, had almost dampened his good mood, however, the issue had quickly been resolved as Naruto had asked her to make a list of any ingredients she needed to make a big meal for them and then went on to summon said ingredients from a seal on his left wrist. He'd also summoned a lot more ingredients for future purposes and helped Tsunami-san stock up the shelves and the refrigerator. She'd been resistant to his generosity initially, but Naruto had been insistent, which was good because his mood had eventually rubbed off on her as a result.

The reason for his good mood was due to King Meruem's success yesterday. Naruto had discretely switched himself with a shadow clone when he sensed their chakra close by and went out into the woods to meet his self made summons, and was met with the evidence of Meruem's success as the king presented both the ice user and Zabuza's corpses along with the Kubikiribocho. Meruem had, very reluctantly, complimented the ice user, not for his raw power or brute strength, but for his speed, intelligence, and ingenuity in battle. Of course, much to Naruto's bemusement, the king had expressed his feelings that the ice user was still trash, but that this trash was less smelly than most humans.

Naruto had been pleased, and very grateful, and had expressed those feelings to the king as he dismissed them, though leaving Flutter behind as he needed him to deliver a sealed shadow clone along with the ice user's corpse to Esdese in Snow Country. The trip would normally take six days by foot, ship, and train put together, but Naruto was confident that the dragon fly was almost there by now as the trip was exponentially quicker by air.

The shadow clone was being transported so that it can perform the chimera no jutsu to fuse the ice user's corpse into Esdese, thereby granting her the ice user's bloodline limit, skills, and knowledge. This would set up the stage for Esdese to dethrone the corrupt Dotou and place the rightful heir, Kuyuki-hime on the throne, and of course, for Koyuki-hime to activate her father's device and turn Snow Country into Spring Country as her father envisioned.

From there Flutter would have to travel to Demon Country to meet up with Momochi Zabuza's sixteen year old cousin, Momochi Gatsu. Momochi Gatsu is one of the members of Naruto's Bloodline Organisation, with origins from Kirigakure no Sato. The guy loathed his cousin Zabuza more than anything in the world, and had sworn vengeance on Zabuza for what he'd done to their family, launching an attack on the Mizukage and then abandoning his family in Kirigakure no Sato to deal with the consequences of his actions, consequences which were fatal as the Mizukage had ordered the immediate extinction of the whole Momochi family.

Gatsu had been just a kid back then, but had managed to survive, his mother sacrificing her life so that he can escape. He'd been on the run since then, fighting and barely clinging on to life as hunter ninja after ninja was sent after him, all the while his hate for his cousin growing with each day that went by. His life had been one of eternal misery and violence up until the day that he met Uzumaki Naruto in the Land Of Moon. Back then, they had fought a closely contested battle, but Naruto had managed to sneak in a victory thanks to his proficiency with the Kyubi's power, though said proficiency wasn't anywhere near the level it was today.

Gatsu had expected Naruto to kill him, unable to believe that, after evading and defeating so many experienced hunter ninja, his death would come at the hands of what was nothing more than a little brat, albeit a very strong one. However, Naruto had spared his life and offered him something he had forgotten even existed, a hand in friendship. Gatsu had been shocked to tears, never having realised how much he missed having a friend, someone to talk to, share secrets with, and someone to have your back no matter what. They had spent the rest of the month hanging out together and playing ninja, which was weird considering that usually the only people who play ninja, are people who aren't ninja already.

In any case, that's when Naruto had told him about the Bloodline Organisation, and about their goals. Gatsu had accepted the offer in a heartbeat, quite sure that anyone who had Naruto's trust was worth his trust as well, and Naruto had later given him the swift release bloodline limit via the chimera no jutsu. Right now however Flutter was going to be delivering Zabuza's corpse along with a the Kubikiribocho to one of his best friends. He was hoping that Gatsu would allow him to fuse Zabuza into him. As a swift release user, Gatsu was good at wind and lightning techniques, as those were the elemental affinities that combine to form swift release. Naruto was hoping to give him water release as well from Zabuza along with the skills and knowledge of the seven ninja swordsmen techniques.

Gatsu was already an accomplished swordsmen himself, and wielded a gigantic blade just like Zabuza, but the addition of the silent killing skills and other seven ninja swordsmen skills, along with intimate knowledge of KJrigakure was something Naruto felt was worth Gatsu overlooking his hatred for the guy. It would also help him understand why Zabuza did what he did and he would also get a better sword than the one he currently wielded. Totally worth it Naruto thought, though convincing Gatsu of that would be some task.

In any case, there were other reasons for celebration, as Naruto had sent a four man cell of shadow clones while Kakashi was passed out and had it eliminate every single one of Gato's thugs, including the man himself, though after torturing the bastard into conceding all the passwords to his bank accounts, for personal and business purposes and having him transfer all of his business assets to Tazuna's daughter Tsunami. When Naruto was done with this place, Wave Country was going to become one of the wealthiest and prosperous nations in the world, Tsunami was going to become the Daimyo, and Tazuna-san would have enough funds to expand his business internationally, but most importantly, Wave Country would be inside his pocket.

"Hmmmm...that was a great meal Tsunami-san. I haven't had a nice home cooked meal like that in like...ever."Naruto said sincerely.

"T-thank you Naruto-kun, but you give me too much credit. I'm sure your mother cooks nice home cooked meals every now and again too."Tsunami replied, causing a tense silence to take hold of the dining room, Sasuke and Kakashi both looking in Naruto's direction with worried expressions, wondering how the blonde Uzumaki would react to the raven haired beauty's statement.

"Actually, I'm an orphan. I've been living by myself since I gained self awareness, since I was four years old I think. Before then I was at an orphanage, but they kicked me out onto the streets."Naruto said with a dark tone and expression, Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami frozen in shock at the blonde Uzumaki's story, unable to comprehend why a three-four year old child would be kicked out of an orphanage and be allowed to live on the streets.

"I...Naruto-kun I'm so sorry. I...I didn't know!"Tsunami stuttered with a pained and remorseful tone and expression.

"It's okay, I got over it a long time ago. I've watched you with Inari and Tazuna-san since we arrived yesterday, and I've had a taste of your cooking. Despite everything happening in Wave Country, this is a lovely home, and it's all because of you. If I had a mother, it would have been wonderful if it were someone like you. You're great woman Tsunami-san."Naruto replied with a small smile, tears of both sadness and joy escaping the raven haired woman's eyes as she smile lovingly at the blonde Uzumaki, a small red hue spreading across her facial features, though the blonde Uzumaki's words inspired a completely different reaction from the woman's rebellious son.

"S-shut up!"Inari exclaimed as he jumped up on his feet, banging his fists hard against the dining table.

"I...Inari-kun...!"a shocked Tsunami stuttered, totally perplexed by her son's behaviour as, even though he seemed to brood all the time, he had never had an outburst like this before as he mostly kept to himself.

"I'm sick to my stomach of your presence, why don't you just go away!"Inari exclaimed furiously.

"Huh...?"Was Naruto's intellectual response, unintentionally infuriating the little kid even more than he was already.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about! You coming here talking big, making jokes, and laughing like an idiot! You don't know anything about our pain! You've never lost anyone so you don't know how it feels like to lose a precious person. Talking as if you could ever understand our pain! You don't know anything about true pain, and you're going to get mom and grandpa killed by making them believe in that nonsense! There's no such thing as a hero, and Gato will come after my family now all because of you! I hate you!"Inari exclaimed with tears now free falling from his eyes, his whole body shaking violently, because of anger? Because he was crying? Naruto didn't know. If the atmosphere was tense before, then there was no way to describe what it was right now, everyone stunned into silence by the boy's outburst, Sasuke and Kakashi getting ready to try and stop Naruto in case he lost his cool and attacked the boy, Tazuna and Tsunami too shocked to say or do anything about their grandchild and child respectively, Sakura pretty much in the same boat as them.

"You're totally right. There's no way I can possibly imagine what it's like to lose someone precious to me, because I never had anyone to begin with. However, doesn't that mean that it is also true that you can't possibly have any idea what it is like to have never had anyone care about you before? To come home to an empty house with no one to welcome you back home, to go home from school and have no one to help you with your homework? To not have a fatherly figure to teach you how to be a man, to not have a motherly figure to comfort and encourage you. To shop for your own food as a four year old and to prepare your own meals and iron your own clothes. To be totally alone in the world as you watch other kids enjoy the love and comfort of a family home. Can you say with certainty, that your pain is greater than mine?"Naruto asked rhetorically, Inari staring back defiantly at the blonde Uzumaki, but not having any retort to the blonde Uzumaki's words as he tried to imagine life without his mother and grandfather.

"Let me show you something. Do you know what this is?"Naruto said as he stood up and lifted up his sweater, channelling chakra to his stomach to reveal the seal on his torso.

"Naruto..."

"Shut up Kakashi."Naruto said dismissively, everyone's eyes widening in surprise at Naruto's casual dismissal of his sensei, even Inari, everyone realising that, despite Naruto's calm and even tone, that he was royally pissed off right now and shouldn't be messed with, well, except for a certain pink haired kunoichi, who clearly didn't read the manual.

"Naruto! How dare you talk to you K..."Sakura trailed off a Naruto's gaze met hers, a massive amount of killing intent washing over her in that moment, her whole body trembling in fear as she shrinked back into herself.

"W-what is that thing?"Tazuna asked with a mesmerized look.

"I was born twelve years ago in September 10th, the same day that the most powerful of the tailed demons, the kyubi no kitsune attacked Konoha. The Yondaime Hokage defeated the demon by sealing it into a child, and that child...was me."Naruto said dramatically, causing everyone with the exception of Kakashi to tremble in fear as realisation dawned on them.

"W-what...!" Inari stuttered fearfully.

"Yes, Inari, inside me, lives that beast, and there is a daily battle for control between me and the demon as it attempts to escape my body, killing me in the process. It is a battle of mental wills, a battle of the strength of chakra and body, and a battle of emotional stability. Admittedly, the Yondaime Hokage's seal gives me the upper hand in the battle, though it is loosening and eroding on an almost weekly basis."Naruto explained, though he was exaggerating a bit as he hadn't had trouble with the beast since he unlocked his chakra chains.

"N...no way! How can such a thing be?" Tazuna asked disbelievingly.

"It is indeed possible, and I have been hated, scorned, manipulated, deceived, abused, attacked, spat on, and hospitalised, all because of something that was beyond my control. I have had to overcome a lot to get to where I am, so Inari, if I could overcome something like that, then why can't you and the people of Wave overcome a puny little man like Gato?"Naruto asked rhetorically, silence the only response he was able to provoke from his audience, everyone's brains getting scrambled by the huge load of information.

Some might say that Naruto was being mala dramatic, some might say that he was throwing a pity party for himself instead of focussing on helping the people that were suffering now. Some might even say that this was his MO since he was just a five year old, always trying to make everything about him so that he can get people's attention, part of his histrionic behaviour, and maybe, just maybe, there might be some truth to those words. However, to Naruto, this was nothing more than a calculated move in a long line of schemes that he was cooking up in his brain.

The objective was simple, get sympathy points from the future richest man in Wave Country (Tazuna), and the future Daimyo/Princess of Wave Country (Tsunami), who is also the future richest woman in Wave Country, and of course, from the kid who was the heir to both of them. Within that same objective, his goal was to get them to view Konoha in a negative light because of what they did to him so that he when the time came that they had to choose between an alliance with Konoha and The Bloodline, the choice would be rudimentary.

"In any case, you guys don't have to worry about Zabuza, Haku, or Gato and his thugs anymore, they're all dead."Naruto said in a matter of fact tone.

"W-what...?"Inari trailed off with a wide eyed expression, which pretty much summed up everyone's thoughts on the matter.

' _He killed them? But when? He'd been here the whole...did he use shadow clones?'_ Sasuke thought, for the millionth time clenching his hands in frustration at getting so thoroughly outdone by the dobe. Sakura, very quick to take note of Sasuke's discomfort, was about to give the blonde Uzumaki a piece of her mind but was unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how one wants to look at it, cut off by one Hatake Kakashi, who was able to beat her to the punch.

"Naruto, the assassination of Gato was not part of our mission! Our mission was to protect Tazuna-san until the completion of the bridge. You have over stepped your boundaries!"Kakashi chasticed disapprovingly.

"That's right, our mission was to protect Tazuna-san until the completion of the bridge, which is exactly what I did. The only way to truly protect someone is to eliminate the threat, which is exactly what I did. If not, then Gato would have either hired a greater number of shinobi, or gone and hired an S ranked shinobi next time. I don't know about you, but I don't think our survival prospects would have improved had I not slayed Gato."Naruto replied clearly and concisely.

"But when did you do this? You've been here with us all this time, and who's this Haku person?"Tsunami asked with a confused frown.

"I used shadow clones like the ones I used to carry Kakashi-sensei's unconscious body here yesterday. I only needed four of them to do the job, though in all honesty one would have done the job just fine. Gato's security was lacking. As for your other question, Haku is the ice user who was helping Zabuza. The chimera ants told me his name when they delivered his and Zabuza's body last night when you were all sleeping."Naruto explained.

"Oh..."was Tsunami's intellectual reply.

"Naruto, what have you done with Zabuza and Haku's body, and where is the Kubikiribocho?"Kakashi asked with his lone visible eye narrowed at the blonde Uzumaki.

"Spoils of war, they belong to me. I will use the knowledge I gain from their bodies to enhance my own knowledge and hopefully that knowledge will be used for generations by the descendents of Uzumaki Naruto. I've yet to decide what to do with the Kubikirbocho. I'll study it of course, but once I'm done, maybe I'll use it as my weapon, maybe I'll sell it back to Kirigakure no sato, maybe I'll use it to broker a treaty alliance when I become Hokage, who knows? The possibilities are limitless."Naruto replied with a far off expression.

"Or you could hand it over to the Hokage, along with the corpses, I'm sure you'll be compensated handsomely for your hard work."Kakashi suggested.

"Hmmmm...not gonna happen. Possession of the corpses and the sword are compensation enough for me. I think I'll hold on to them." Naruto retorted much to Kakashi's displeasure.

"..."

"Anyway...congratulations Tsunami-san. You are now officially the richest woman in Wave Country, and one of the richest people in the world."

"What!"

 **Six Hours Later**

"It's time for me to go and prepare lunch Naruto-kun. Can we continue with this a little later?"Tsunami asked with a heavy sigh, unable to believe how much fatigue using your brain could cause, almost just as much as manual labour as far as she could tell.

She'd spent the whole morning with the blonde Uzumaki as he tried to teach her everything she would need to know in order to effectively run Gato Corporations, oh wait, it was Tsunami Corporations now wasn't it? It was honestly quite a lot to take in, but Naruto had promised her that she would have it all down by the time that her father was done with the bridge, which would take another two weeks to complete according to Naruto's estimations.

Initially, she was terrified by the prospect of becoming the owner of any corporation, much less such as gigantic one, and she almost had a nervous breakdown when Naruto told her his plan to use her financial resources not only to help Wave Country's economy and fund the incorporation of her grandpa's Wave Constructions Co., but also to use said power to assume the political role of Wave Country's Daimyo. However, the more Naruto talked her into it, the more he explained his reasons and the more he encouraged and showed his confidence in her, the more excited she became at the prospect of becoming such a powerful and inspirational figure for her people, to be in a position to help those in need and to matter to someone other than her own family.

Still, there were dangers out there, for one, there were associates and rivals of Gato that wouldn't be happy with her running things now, and there were those whose corporations Gato had stolen by making them sell to him at cheaper prices while they were under duress. Those people would want to gain something back when they found out that Gato was gone, and they would make her their target as a result. Also, the fact that she was a woman would make her all the more of an appetizing target for many of Gato's former rivals, and now her potential rivals. However, Naruto promised her that her status as Daimyo alone would be enough to deter such actions, but just to be safe, he'd promised to organise protection for her until she could get her own army set up, so all in all, the future was looking good for her, her family, and her people.

"It's okay, you can take the rest of the day off. We'll rendezvous tomorrow morning, same time and same place."Naruto said as he gathered all the documents so that he can re-seal them into a scroll.

"Okay, thanks Naruto-kun."Tsunami said as she kissed the blonde Uzumaki on the forehead before hurriedly skipping her way to the kitchen, Naruto touching the place where she had kissed him with dazed expression on his facial features.

' _Her lips are so soft and wet...'_ Naruto thought before shaking his head quickly.

' _What am I thinking. She's not a shinobi, so my age will definitely be an issue for her. Though as a Daimyo, she'll have to learn that age is practically irrelevant when it comes to political marriages. For all we know Inari could become betrothed to a thirty year old.'_ Naruto thought with a mischievous glint in his eyes, trying to imagine the expression on Inari's face if Naruto were to tell him that tad bit of information.

' _Speaking of which, I can't wait to see what my shadow clone will be teaching him the whole day.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

He couldn't teach the kid how to use chakra of course, as that was illegal for him to do as a Konoha shinobi and he had no doubt in his mind that Kakashi would report him. However, he was teaching the kid how to fight with the sword, kunai, shuriken, knife, and hand to hand combat. He was also going to be putting the kid through a whole lot of physical training and by the time he left, he was sure that he would have developed an adequate program for the kid to follow even after he was gone. He wanted the kid to be able to at least school random bandits and thugs like some of the ones that Gato used to take over Wave Country, and he wanted the kid to be able to protect his family should the need arise. The rest of the stuff he needed to know, mainly stuff about his mom and grandpa's business, and about the role of a Daimyo, he would learn from his parental figures.

' _In any case, I wonder how Sasuke and Sakura are doing with the tree climbing excercise.'_ Naruto thought after sealing all of the documents away on a scroll, the blonde Uzumaki using his chakra sensing to locate their position and then heading that way immediately.

 **Elsewhere: Heading To Wave Country**

"Just a few more hours and we will reach Wave Country, Saitama-sensei." A young man said from a standing position on the left side of a medium sized ship, looking over the ocean with a very serious expression etched on his facial features. He is man not too short but not too tall either, just above average in height, about nineteen years old in age. He is spiky blonde hair, pale skin, a eyes that are completely black with the exception of his pupils, which were gold in colour. He is wearing black pants along with black half boots tied around his lower legs with brown strings and has a brown weapons pouch on his left thigh. Up top he is wearing only a sleeveless dark blue top and black fingerless gloves on each of his hands.

"Heeeeeeh? I thought we'd be a lot closer than that by now. Naruto-sama is probably cross with us, it's been over six months since he ordered us to track Zabuza and his apprentice down and we still haven't caught up to them. We totally suck at this, I blame you, Genos."The other man, Saitama replied with one of the laziest speech patterns that his friend and apprentice had ever heard. Saitama is a man of average height, perhaps slightly on the short side, with absolutely no hair visible anywhere on his body. He is wearing dark orange/red two piece sleeveless outfit tied with a black sash around the waist along with a black short sleeved t-shirt underneath the sleeveless top and is also wearing similar footwear to his apprentice (He is wearing Goku's outfit).

"You're right, it is my fault. However, this time I am sure that will catch up to them in Wave Country, I won't fail Naruto-sama again!"Genos vowed to himself.

' _If it wasn't for Naruto-sama, I would have died that day, I wouldn't even have a body had I miraculously survived. Naruto-sama dedicated two years of his life to the Genos project, I have a synthetic body to do the normal things that other humans can do, and a mechanical body parts and weapons that I can summon to protect myself and those precious to me, all thanks to him. He even had me apprenticed to Saitama-sensei so that I can learn to use my new body and the weapons of destruction that come with it, and he gave me a purpose in life other than revenge. I will not fail no matter what it takes!'_ Genos thought as he clenched hard on the railing, causing the metal to groan and cave in on itself.

"Oooi ooi, I was just teasing. It's not your fault, Zabuza is just ridiculously good at covering his tracks that's all."Saitama apologised in an attempt to pacify his frustrated apprentice.

"I know. It's just that, this is a very important mission. The situation in Snow Country depends on our success in order to be resolved, and I'm sure Naruto-sama is hoping that we kill Zabuza before he runs into Gatsu. Despite what Zabuza did, I'm sure Naruto-sama doesn't want Gatsu to bare the burden of having to kill his own family member, and neither do I."Genos said with a deep frown.

"Aaah...haaah...this is so troublesome. Suzumebachi and Fuka would have been far more suitable for this mission, if only they didn't have their hand tied down at the moment. They would have tracked this guy down long ago."Saitama retorted.

"Indeed..." Genos trailed off thoughtfully.

 **Chapter End**

 **No, this is not a crossover, but yes, the chimera ant summons are based on the HxH chimera ants.**

 **Yes, Naruto is super strong, he's been learning from a mad scientific ninja genius for over five years now after all (Kabuto).**

 **Yes, Esdese is based on the character from Akame Ga Kiru, and yes, Momochi Gatsu is based on Gatsu (Guts) from Berserk.**

 **Yes your eyes did not deceive you, Saitama and Genos have made an appearance.**

 **Thanks for reading and take care.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any other series I might use for inspiration.

 _ **Chuunin Exams**_

"It's been a long time, Saitama, Genos." Naruto greeted as he casually strolled out of the woods and into the clearing where his comrades were walking, as if he was just an ordinary kid meeting up with his friends in the forest.

"Naruto-sama, please forgive us! We have yet to find Zabuza and the hyoton user!" Genos exclaimed, bowing his head apologetically, a look of panic and distress plastered on his facial features.

"Don't worry about those two, their corpses are being delivered to Gatsu and Esdese as we speak." Naruto replied, unable to stop the smirk on his face from showing when he saw the shocked looks that Genos and Saitama were giving him.

"So, you decided to go after them yourself after all, are we really that useless..."

"Genos! Stop beating yourself up damn it! I only came here because of a mission I got from Konoha. It was just sheer luck that the mission happened to involve Zabuza and the hyoton user." Naruto said with exasperation.

"A mission from Konoha? So you finally graduated from the academy? What rank did they give you?" Saitama asked curiously.

"Genin." Naruto deadpanned, both Saitama and Genos initially shocked by Naruto's declaration as they tried to process what they just heard, before looking at each other and then breaking into a fit of laughter.

"You idiots, you can't just skip ranks, not in Konoha at least. Besides, this is good, being a genin draws less attention. Attention is not something any ninja should seek unless it is part of a grander scheme." Naruto reprimanded and lectured his friends in one paragraph, which was ironic seeing as he was so much younger than they were.

"I guess it makes sense when you put it like that, but still, the great Naruto-sama riduced to a mere genin, that's just crazy." Saitama retorted.

"Hn, yes well, I suppose I can see where you're coming from. In any case, it's a good thing that you guys are here, I just so happen to have a new mission for the two of you, but it won't be anything like the usual bloodline limit hunting missions you get, in fact, it doesn't involve a bloodline limit at all." Naruto said much to Genos and Saitama's confusion.

"What do you mean? What kind of mission is it?" Genos asked curiously.

"I want the two of you to protect the woman I am grooming to become Daimyo of Wave Country. I understand that neither of you are suited for this kind of mission as neither of you are sensor types, however, I'm going to be in Wave Country for a while still, until the bridge is finished, that should give me enough time to install the upgrades that will make you suitable for this job." Naruto explained.

"An upgrade? What kind of upgrade?" Saitama asked curiously, Genos nodding his head as he especially was curious about the new upgrades.

"An improvement on Genos's radar. Right now his radar allows him to detect heat signatures, but the upgrade I'll install will allow him to detect and identify people by their chakra, and the radius will be increased by two hundred percent." Naruto replied, Genos and Saitama's eyes widening in surprise as realisation dawned on them.

"Wow, that's...incredible. Our body guard mission should be a breeze with these new upgrades, and we won't have so much trouble hunting down kekkei genkei users anymore." Saitama said jovially.

"Y-yes, indeed. With this new upgrade, we'll never fail you again Naruto-sama, I promise." Genos said with determination.

"I know you won't. Anyway, I'll need you to lay low until my team and I leave this place. The last thing we need is for Kakashi to discover you guys. I'll protect Tsunami-san and her family in the meantime as you guys familiarize yourselves with the place. Oh yes, Saitama-dono, I'll need you to train her son to use chakra. I've already started him on taijutsu, kenjutsu, and shurikenjutsu, so when I'm gone, you take it from there and continue the kid's education." Naruto ordered.

"Train her son? Why? Are you planning to recruit the kid for the bloodline?" Saitama asked curiously.

"No, not at all, but I can't have you on bodyguard duty forever you know. The kid needs to be able to protect his family when you guys leave, he'll also have the responsibility to create a military force for the new Daimyo, which will be his mother, and he himself in the future." Naruto explained.

"I see. You've really thought this through haven't you." Genos said, Naruto's brilliance and foresite for someone so young never ceasing to amaze him.

"Yes I have. Now I'm not allowed to teach ninjutsu to a stranger because of my affiliation to Konoha, but I will be teaching Inari Taijutsu and weapons skills and of course I will be training his body to peak human condition. I'll leave behind a program for him to follow and you guys will just make sure he sticks to it for the next 12 months. After that you can teach him how to harness his chakra and all the basic principles of ninjutsu. You don't have to teach him jutsu beyond the basic neccessities like shunshin, bunshin, henge, and how to harness his elemental affinity. That should be good enough. He can discover the rest on his own or develop his own ninjutsu if he can." Naruto declared.

"So basically, our role is to give him a solid foundation and the neccessary basics needed to become a competent shinobi?" Saitama asked rhetorically.

"Basically. He must be strong enough that low level bandit armies like the one Gato used to take over Wave Island won't even stand a chance against him. So basically I'd say about chuunin level of skill. If he wants to get stronger than that so be it, but he'll have to do it on his own. He's still young so he'll have more than enough time to develop himself to whatever level he desires." Naruto explained.

"Okay fine, got it." Saitama retorted.

"Okay good. I'll see you guys around. Yawl take care now." Naruto said as he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"A shadow clone?" Genos thought out loud.

"He makes those things look so real I can never tell the difference." Saitama said irritably.

"Yes I'd say. Nevetheless, let us do as Narato-sama ordered and familiarise ourselves with the area. I'm sure Naruto-sama will come back to install my upgrades by the end of the day." Genos urged, determined not to ever have to apologise to Naruto-sama for failing him again.

 **Later That Evening:**

"Wow, you don't have any quit in you do you?" Naruto said, quite impressed by the young Uchiha's determination and perseverence.

Sasuke said nothing in response, simply staring at the blonde Uzumaki with an unlimited dose of incredule in his facial expression. He'd spent all day, using all of his Uchiha mental and physical discipline and prowess to try and master the tree walking technique, but to no avail. Sure, he'd improved, he'd improved a lot actually so he wouldn't exactly say that the effort was for naught, but the fact that Sakura was able to master the excercise in an instant pissed him off to no end. It was the most infuriating and most embarassing moment of his life, he doubted he had ever felt as weak and useless as he did right now, not even when Itachi belittled and humiliated him did he ever feel this low, not even when he watched the dobe outclass him at every turn since they graduated did he ever feel this insignificant.

Speaking of the dobe, the guy had been training right next to him, unsealing and lifting ridiculous weights, weights that he wouldn't even expect a jonin to be able to lift and yet the dobe was doing just that. He'd been alternating the whole day between weighted sprinting and taijutsu kata practise to weighted press ups and pull ups to bicept curls and bench press and now he was busy squating a weight that seemed to be close to half a ton, without the use of chakra. Just how insane was that even with the use of chakra.

The dobe had been doing this all day and all evening and he had the nerve to complement him on his lack of quit? Lack of quit for what? Climbing a damn tree? How great was that compared to what the dobe had been doing the whole day? How amazing was that compared to Sakura mastering the damn tree excercise in a few seconds? If he wasn't so afraid of the dobe, not that he would ever admit it, he would have beat him senseless just for that comment alone.

"You're one to talk." Sasuke eventually replied, as calm and uncaring as ever, because he was never going to show the dobe just how much he was getting to him. The dobe is an insignificant and lesser being, he always was, and he always will, that was the only thing Sasuke was willing to accept, the only thing he had to convince himself of in order to hold on to his self worth and self esteem.

"You know, you need not worry about Kakashi's taunting. He was just, in his own twisted and sadistic way, trying to encourage you. Sakura is not more talented than you at chakra control, she simply has too little and insignificant chakra reserves for it to be a challenge to control her chakra. You are an Uchiha prodigy, so your chakra is extremely dense and potent, and your reserves are significantly larger than Sakura's. So of course it would take that much more effort for you to to reign in that large and potent chakra. It's the only reason you are struggling and she is not. If anything, Sakura should be right here with you, working hard in order to increase her chakra reserves, because once you master this technique you will be so much faster and stronger compared to her." Naruto explained in great detail.

"Why would I be faster and stronger just because of this?" Sasuke asked condescendingly, although deep down he was actually very, no, extremely relieved to hear, well, everything that the dobe just said.

"Chakra is used to augment physical abilities like speed and strength, so obviously the better your control the better you are at those things. There are other factors like the potency and density of your chakra, and the amount of chakra that you can move to certain areas of your body. As you have much higher stats in all three departments of density, potency, and capacity compared to Sakura, then, by mastering the same excercise as her, you will enjoy that many more benefits." Naruto explained, Sasuke unable to stop the smirk that instantly appeared on his facial features.

"That means I'll also be able to keep up with you, right?" Sasuke concluded somewhat prematurely.

"Hehe! Don't get ahead of yourself, you haven't even mastered the water walking technique yet." Naruto said, laughing at the incredulous look that the Uchiha was spotting right then.

"The water what?" Sasuke asked irritably.

"Come on now Sasuke. You saw Zabuza and Kakashi's fight right? You did see them standing and fighting on top of the water didn't you?" Naruto asked incredulously, Sasuke's eyes widening in surprise and sudden realisation.

"You're all lucky I haven't awakened my sharingan yet, if I had my sharingan this would all be child's play." Sasuke said furiously, causing Naruto's eyes to widen as a thought quickly crossed his mind.

"Hey Sasuke, tell me, how does one go about awakening the sharingan anyway?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Intense trauma or intense battle. Usually it is awakened as death approaches during a death battle, the Uchiha's intense emotions and survival instincts come to the fore and the blood reacts to those emotions and the manifestation of the sharingan is achieved. There are some who have simply trained their eyes until the sharingan manifested but those are few and far between." Sasuke said as if reading a manual on a scroll.

"I see. Well, you know what, I think I can help you to awaken your sharingan. You said so yourself right, if you had your sharingan these chakra control excercises would be a piece of cake." Naruto said with a devious smirk plastered on his facial features.

Naruto didn't particularly like Sasuke. Sasuke could easily be described as an arrogant, obnoxious and self absorbed prick with a terrible superiority complex. However there was no doubt about his potential, and he also was a serious flight risk to Konoha, not to mention that he also had a powerful bloodline limit, which were two reasons why Naruto was considering whether to draft him into The Bloodline or not.

To make that determination Naruto knew that he needed to be friendly to Sasuke and try to get close to him, that was the only way he would get to know him well enough to decide whether he could be trusted or not. He figured helping him to master jutsu every now and then and maybe sparring with him was as good as anyway to get close to a ninja from a clan with such a rich shinobi history.

There were other reasons for helping to speed up Sasuke's progress of course. The truth of the matter is that Naruto had no idea when Akatsuki would decide to make their move against him. However, he could easily predict that Itachi would likely be one of the people sent after him. Sasuke's sole purpose in life, besides the ressurrection of his clan, was to eliminate Uchiha Itachi. So if Itachi came after him, it was to Naruto's benefit that Sasuke be as strong as possible when that moment came as Sasuke would inadvertently end up fighting on Naruto's behalf whether he knew it or not. Naruto would then just have to worry about Itachi's partner while Sasuke took care of his brother, or at least hold him off long enough for Naruto to conclude his own battle.

"W-what?" Sasuke stuttered.

"I said I think I can help you awaken your sharingan." Naruto said as he created four seal-less shadow clones which then disappeared in four different directions.

"What are you doing, dobe?" Sasuke asked with a confused look on his facial features.

"The clones are going to set up a barrier around the forest so that no one can hear or see anything inside the barrier." Naruto explained clearly and concisely.

"Why would we need a barrier like that? What are you going to do, dobe?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"I'm going to kill you of course, or at least try to, depending on whether what you said is true or not. I want to see if you really will awaken your sharingan if I try to kill you." Naruto said, a sinister smirk morphing into his facial features, memories of Uchiha Itachi flashing in Sasuke's mind as that was the only time he could remember feeling as terrified and helpless as he did right now.

"Here I come, Sasuke!"

"D-dobe!" Sasuke cried out like he never did before in his life, a sound that would reverberate around the forest many more times over the evening.

 **One Month Later**

It had been a month since Kakashi returned to Konoha with his students, and needless to say, a lot had happened since then, and he had a feeling that the permanent headache he had since he taking over team 7 was about to be compounded even further.

Normally, it would have been a blessing and a privilege to be in charge of team 7. Naruto was strong, incredibly so, a genius now clearly greater than even Kakashi was. Kakashi had already been a jonin at Naruto's age, however, with sixteen years of experience as a jonin and now possessing a sharingan, Naruto had been able to make short work of him, and then he had made short work of Zabuza and Haku, Zabuza, a foe who himself had made short work of Kakashi prior to the blonde Uzumaki's intervention. Official ranking was irrelevant, the blonde Uzumaki was a monster, Kakashi could only imagine what he would become once he started using the powers of the actual monster inside of him.

And then there was Uchiha Sasuke. Last time Kakashi remembered he was struggling with the tree climbing excercise, and within the space of less than a day the young Uchiha had come back with a sharingan and the ability to perform the tree and water technique effortessly. His sharingan had two tamoe on the right side and one on the left at the time, by the time they left Wave Island he had already unlocked the second one on the left side as well. It may have seemed like nothing but Kakashi, as a sharingan user, knew just how difficult a feat it was to advance a sharingan, and just how much more power one gained from just that one extra tamoe.

He knew the blonde Uzumaki was behind Sasuke's development, he knew Naruto was directly involved in Sasuke's development. Naruto denied it and Sasuke claimed that he had only sparred the blonde Uzumaki and the spars became so intense that he awakened his sharingan. Kakashi didn't detect any lies, but he knew that there was a lot that the last Uchiha was leaving out in that statement.

The only question Kakashi had was, to what end? Why was Naruto helping Sasuke? It didn't take a genius to figure out that the two of them didn't like each other at all, and it wasn't hard to see how contrasting their inherent personalities were. What did Naruto have to gain from making Sasuke stronger? What did he want? Was he planning to use Sasuke to further his own goals? If so, then how and why did he feel the need to do that? He was so strong and he had summons that were just as strong if not stronger, so what was the blonde Uzumaki's end game?

Kurenai had detailed in her personality analysis of the blonde Uzumaki that he is a trickster by nature, that every action he took would appear to be meaningless and done for the sake of it on the surface and yet there was a clear goal that only the trickster knew behind all of his actions. Kakashi understood that, it made sense, but for the life of him he just couldn't figure out anything that the blonde Uzumaki was up to, and he was the guy who always preached the "always look beneath the underneath" moto like it was some kind of mantra.

Honestly, Sasuke and Naruto were prize students, anyone looking in from the outside would consider him lucky to have such talented individuals, but as they say, the devil is in the details. For one, part of Kakashi's assignment had been to stall the progress of the blonde jinchuuriki and the lone Uchiha, for the simple fact of the matter that they were flight risks, high alert flight risks. Their mental stability and loyalty to the village were questionable at best, if not currently then potentially in the future. It wouldn't do Konoha well to groom the potential instruments of their demise too well. Until their loyalties could be unquestionably verified, he was supposed to stall them.

However, how was he supposed to do that when one of them was arguably stronger than him, arguably because he still felt that he was caught off guard and completely unprepared for the blonde Uzumaki's true strength and intellect, he still wanted his rematch, a chance to prove himself. Still, the fact that he needed a rematch in the first place was really all that needed to be said. The other one was advancing at an incredible rate, seemingly without his help and with the aid of the one who was arguably stronger than him. The only one who was stagnant was the one that actually wasn't a major concern at all to the village.

It was a cruel way to put it but right now, Sakura could die a horrible death and it wouldn't affect the village's military strength whatsoever. He doubted anyone would notice beyond her fellow graduates and their senseis, and her family of course. That was another headache waiting to happen, as she was, Sakura was a sure fire death waiting to happen. He'd given to her a training program when they returned from Wave Island. He hadn't followed up on her to check on whether she was following the program or not, because she was an adult now, that's the status that being a shinobi bestows upon an academy graduate, if she couldn't follow a simple training program like that by herself then it wasn't his problem. Okay it was, but he had no intention of coddling anyone.

He could tell that she was putting some effort into it, but he could also tell that she was doing only about a quarter of what the program was asking of her. In other words, she hadn't improved anywhere near as much as he had hoped she would have by now, which was bad, for her, because he had just given to them, not even six minutes ago, the chuunin exam application forms. As she was, if she signed the forms, she was probably going to die in the second part of the exam. In any case he didn't really have time to muse about any of that, he had to hurry and get to the Hokage's Office, he was already two hours late for the meeting.

 **Team 7:**

"Finally, a chance to test myself against strong opponents. Maybe this will be the push I need to unlock the third tamoe for my eyes." Sasuke said enthusiatically, well, as enthusiastic as an emotionally deficient, borderline psychopathic Uchiha can be.

"Yes, I'm sure there are a lot of monsters out there that will be entering the exams. It should be interesting." The blonde Uzumaki mused.

"Dobe. I assume you'll be entering the exams." Sasuke said in a way that was neither a statement nor a question, somewhere in between the two.

"Not like I have a choice now. You do know that if even one of us doesn't submit the forms then we can't enter either right?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

"W-what! T-that can't be! Kakashi-sensei would have said something if that were so!" Sakura exclaimed frantically.

"Really? Kakashi? You mean like he told us he had a sharingan even though he knew how important that information would have been to Sasuke? Or like he told us anything about himself during our first introductions? Or perhaps like he told us that..."

"Okay okay! I get it! He...he probably wouldn't have told us, in fact, it's just like him to pull a stunt like this shannaro!" Sakura said, shaking her fist angrily as she fantasized about pulverizing the living daylights out of that freak scarecrow of a sensei of theirs.

"Hn, you two better not hold me back. I'll put you on my list of people to kill right next to Itachi if you do." Sasuke said, turning and walking away without even waiting for a response.

"Sasuke-kun where are you goin..."

"Home." Sasuke's voice cut through the air before Sakura could even finish asking.

"Do you want to..."

"No!" Again, before Sakura could finish, Sasuke's firm and uncompromising voice cut through the air.

"Well I admire your dedication and never say give up attitude if nothing else." Naruto said as he too turned to leave in a different direction.

"Unlike you you mean?" Sakura exploded, Naruto halting dead on his tracks at the sound of that, not quite sure he believed what he was hearing, that is of course, if she meant what he thought she meant.

"What's that supposed to mean exactly?" Naruto asked without turning around.

"You used to proclaim your love for me on a daily basis, you said that you loved me and asked me out at every opportunity you had. But since graduation you haven't so much as looked at me with longing and desire. You totally and completely gave up, but I'm not as weak minded as you Naruto, I'll never give up on Sasuke-kun!" Sakura declared defiantly.

"Well, that's good for you, however I on the other end would prefer not to waste my time with illogical gestures."

"What did you say?" Sakura asked furiously, flexing her arms and tighting her fists as she tried to resist the urge to pulverize the blonde into oblivion.

"If I never gave up on you? What good would that serve me if you too will never give up on Sasuke? For me to finally win you over would mean that you finally gave up on Sasuke, but since I already know you wll never give up on Sasuke, then that means I could never win you over doesn't it? I mean, this is common sense, one plus one is equal to two sort of thing. Besides, I've got far more important things to worry about believe it or not, and...I say this not with the intention to hurt or offend you, but, right now, I harbour absolutely no romantic feelings for you. To me, your are just a work colleague." Naruto delivered apathetically, without a shadow of doubt or even a hint of a lie in his tone of voice of disposition, Sakura's heart strings clenching tightly with painful realisation, realisation that there was absolutely no one in the world with the exception of her parents who gave a crap about her, unable to even master a response as she tried and failed to hold back the painful, choking sobs that escaped her throat.

"I'll leave you with one piece of advise though. Sasuke, as he is now, is only interested in strong people. He has no patience or concern for the weak. Being kind and romantic is not going to get you any attention from him. If you want him to notice you, then you should focus on developing yourself as a kunoichi. You might still not immediately get his attention in a romantic sense, but at least he will be paying attention to you. That's a start at least." Naruto said before carrying on with his journey, not really caring whether Sakura heeded his advice or not but quite curious to see what she would do if she did and how Sasuke would react.

 **Meanwhile: Hokage's Office**

"So, what did I miss?" Kakashi asked soon after arriving at the Hokage's Office, Sarutobi's left eyebrow twitching irritably at the copy ninja's tardiness.

"I see you haven't changed at all, Kakashi, at least as far as your tardiness is concerned." Jiraiya said neutrally.

Quite honestly, he would be lying if he said he didn't feel like pulverizing the copy ninja to death with a big ball rasengan to the head right about now, however, he was also very aware of the fact that he was in no position to pass judgement as he himself was skidding on thin ice having taken so long to answer to the old man's summons, especially given the level of importance of the subject matter.

"Jiraiya-sama. It's been a long time. I umm...is it possible to get an autogra..."

"Enough!" Hiruzen finally snapped, smashing his hands against his desk as a wave of killing intent washed over everyone in the office, everyone being Yuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, Maito Gai, Hatake Kakashi, and Jiraiya the Toad Sannin.

"S-sir?" Kakashi immediately stood at attention, quickly remembering that not even he was beyond the Hokage's reproach.

"Jiraiya, tell them everything that you told me." Hiruzen ordered authoratively.

"Ahem. I've been debriefed on the situation regarding my god child Uzumaki Naruto, and I've been told that Kakashi has been overseeing the situation with the help and guidance of you three. First let me say that if everything I have heard about Naruto is true, then I believe under the circumstances, no one can fault you for having as much trouble as you have had to get to the bottom of the situation, I should know, being a spy master myself." Jiraiya began, taking a momentary pause as he looked each and every one of the four jonin senseis in the eye.

"Having said that, I would inform you that I have now returned, and I will be handling the situation. Nothing has to change as far as you are concerned, especially you, Kakashi. You will continue to be hisjonin sensei and continue to investigate and to keep an eye on him. However I will be taking him under my wing as my protege, as his father would have wanted. I will mentor him and push him in the right direction, while investigating the shady forces behind his change in behaviour and demeanor." Jiraiya said, taking pause again, this time to allow the information to sink in before moving on to the next topic of issue.

"Now, there is something much more sinister and dangerous that is of immediate concern, concerning Naruto, concerning the future of Konoha, and perhaps indirectly, concerning the well being of you yourselves and your students, a criminal organisation comprised soley of S rank ninja criminals known as Akatsuki. My old teammate Orochimaru is a former member of this organisation, in fact I only know about them because I have spent years monitoring and tracking Orochimaru." Jiraiya explained.

"I'm sorry Jiraiya-sama but, in as far as I understand the threat posed by the existence of such an organisation, I absolutely can't see how any of this has anything to do with Naruto-kun." Kurenai said with a confused frown.

"It has everything to do with him. This organisations main goal is to hunt and capture all the nine bijuu. Naruto as you know very well is a jinchuuriki of the strongest of the bijuu, which likely means that he is their most important target." Jiraiya retorted, pin drop silence taking over the office at the grave news.

"If I may ask, Jiraiya-sama, who are the members of this organisation, besides Orochimaru of course?" Kakashi asked with a grave undertone.

"They are a very secretive organisation. I only know two other members as it is, Uchiha Itachi, and Hoshigaki Kisame. I only know about Itachi because apparently the reason Orochimaru defected from this organisation is because he tried and failed to take on Itachi. He was likely trying to get his hands on the Uchiha bloodline limit, but from what I hear he was soundly defeated. Following the Itachi lead I was able to learn that his travelling partner is Hoshigaki Kisame, which means that they are partners as Akatsuki operate in two man cells." Jiraiya explained.

"Uchiha Itachi? Isn't he like, what, seventeen years old?" Asume asked incredulously.

"He was thirteen years old when he single handedly massacred his clan, and it was just a year later when he made quick work of Orochimaru. Orochimaru likely underestimated him, he has that tandency due to the sheer size of his ego, but still, underestimated or not, to defeat a sannin at the age of fourteen and and to slaughter a clan as powerful as the Uchiha at the age of thirteen takes some serious, otherworldy talent. He is likely even more dangerous now at the age of seventeen, and that's one man alone. With Kisame helping him their strength as a team is something I don't want to even imagine. Naruto is in serious trouble, the fate of the ninja world itself in fact hangs in the balance, especially if the other members are packing this much firepower, which in all likelyhood they are." Jiraiya said with a grave undertone.

"So that's why you have decided to take Naruto under your wing? It's a good move, but how do you train someone who won't reveal his strengths and limitations to you? How do you pass on your secrets to someone who you don't trust, to someone who for all you know would use those gifts to destroy the most precious things to you? How do you pass on your legacy to someone as shrouded in darkness as Naruto is?" Kakashi asked warily.

"I don't have much of a choice. If I don't help him and Akatsuki take him, how do I face his father and mother when my time comes to pass on to the afterlife? If I don't help him, isn't the risk greater by allowing Akatsuki to get their hands on the kyubi? Besides, the rasengan is his jutsu by birthright, and his father used to summon toads..."

"You think he'll want to sign the toad summoning contract? I mean, according to Kakashi's report, he already has a summoning clan of his own, a very powerful one at that." Kurenai asked skeptically.

"I'll have to convince him. No, in fact he has to sign it. It's the only sure fire way for me to keep him under my protection, and..under my control. As long as he is a toad summoner I can track him no matter where in the world he goes." Jiraiya argued.

"He won't sign the contract, and if he does, it will only be because he already has figured out a way to negate whatever it is that he thinks you intend to do. In other words, it will only be because he has a way to get out of the contract if he so pleases, or because he intends to kill you and become the sole summoner of the toads." Kurenai declared.

"Naruto is strong, no doubt, that he defeated Kakashi and then Zabuza and Haku is a true testament to how dangerous he is, but, he is still a hundred years too young to outwit me." Jiraiya retorted.

"Jiraiya-sama, no one respects your strength and your achievements more than I, but...this is seriously a big gamble that you're taking. Naruto is no ordinary kid, no, more than that, he is no ordinary ninja." Kakashi warned.

"So you've said. However like I said, I'm going in with both my eyes open. Also, I'm not only going to be teaching him how to be good ninja, I'll be showing him how to be a good person too." Jiraiya stressed.

"Okay, it sounds like you know what you're doing. Should I let Naruto know or..."

"No! Don't tell him anything. I don't want him to see me coming." Jiraiya said dismissively.

"Okay then, if that's all then I would like to be..."

"That's not all Kakashi, Jiraiya has more to say to you four. This time it concerns you and all four of your genin teams." Hiruzen said with his hands folded across his face.

"All four?" Asuma asked with a shocked facial expression.

"Well, in particular it concerns the students with bloodline limits, but since all four of your teams have at least one person with a bloodline limit, then yes, it concerns all four of your teams."

"I'm not sure I follow you, Hokage-sama sir." Guy said confusedly.

"When I discovered Akatsuki I decided to go on ahead and find out if there are other hidden organisations of that ilk. You must understand that it came as an absolute shock to me to find out that such an organisation could slip through the cracks like Akatsuki did. So I began to wonder if there might be other organisations perhaps not as dangerous but one warranting the need to keep an eye on. To my surprise I found out about one possibly just as dangerous as Akatsuki that had also slipped through the cracks." Jiraiya said with gravity in his tone and facial expression.

"Another organisation just as dangerous as Akatsuki?" Kurenai asked, eyes wide in shock and trepidation.

"For three to four years now, perhaps longer, the number of people with bloodline limits that have disappeared across the elemental nations has increased by 35 percent. Bare in mind I'm not talking about the number of people with bloodline limits who have died, I'm specifically talking about those who have disappeared, vanished without a trace." Jiraiya figuratively dropped an explosive tag right in the middle of the office.

"That's...discomforting, to put it mildly." Kakashi said warily.

"That's the least disconcerting part of it trust me. What you should know is that in the last two years three members of each of the great bloodline clans of Konoha have disappeared, including the Hyuga, although thankfully only Branch House members from the Hyuga have disappeared." Jiraiya elaborately, gravely so.

"N-no way! That would mean..." Kakashi trailed off in horror.

"Exactly. This organisation has an agent operating on the inside in Konoha." Hiruzen deadpanned.

"What is the name of this organisation exactly?" Sarutobi Asuma asked with a combination of wariness and anger.

"The only name I was able to hear whispered was _The Bloodline_. None of the members or their abilities are known, or at least they are so careful and competent that even I haven't been able to find out anything about its members. The clan heads have all been alerted and of course they will be taking measures to ensure the safety of their kinsmen, you four will have to decide how to approach this issue. Unlike Akatsuki, who we know work in two men cells, we have no idea how this organisation operates. You'll have to be careful, all of you." Jiraiya warned, a deathly silencing taking hold of the office by the scruff of the neck as everyone silently wondered if it was possible to defeat this level of foes without losing loved ones.

"..."

"I wish I could say that was all you had to worry about but, there's more." Jiraiya trailed off gravely.

"There's more...!" Kurenai almost yelled, barely managing to control herself.

"I'm afraid so. Orochimaru has founded his own ninja village in the Land of Rice Paddies, recently renamed as the Nation of Sound. The name of the hidden village is Otogakure no sato, and we believe Orochimaru is planning to invade and destroy Konoha during the chuunin exams." Jiraiya dropped arguably the biggest bomb of the day as this one directly involved a former student of the Sandaime Hokage and former legend of the village and because the threat not only appeared to be more imminent but also had a more defined timeline.

 _'Between the Akatsuki, The Bloodline, and Orochimaru's invasion, will the village really be able to survive this? Things would have been so different if Yondaime-sama was still alive."_ Kurenai thought with trepidation.

 **Three Days Later:**

"What is your name, beautiful?" Naruto asked as he fixed on the beautiful girl's glasses.

She is a very beautiful girl with long silky smooth red hair and equally red eyes, wearing tight black shorts and a blue skirt over the shorts and a reddish brown long sleeve top with a black flak jacket over it. On her forehead she was wearing a Kusagakure head protector and of course, the glasses that Naruto had so kind and caringly re-placed over her eyes.

"M-my name is...my name is Karin, what's yours?" The girl, now identified as Karin, asked with stars in her eyes, unable to believe that this was actual reality and that she wasn't in fact dreaming, never having seen such a handsome boy before and definitely happy, of course, that he was the one to save her life.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Konoha, well, I guess it's pretty obvious I'm a genin since I'm here right?" Naruto laughed awkwardly.

"Y-yeah..." Karin stuttered, a red hue forming on each one of her cheeks as she stared dreamily at the boy crouching in front of her.

 _'She didn't react at all when I told her my last name, and she didn't give me her last name? Then does that mean that she isn't aware of her lineage or is she just being cagey and playing it safe?'_ Naruto wondered, not rulling out the possibility that she in fact didn't know as he too hadn't known once and probably still wouldn't if it wasn't for Kabuto.

"So your name is Karin, just Karin, no last name?" Naruto asked bluntly, not really wanting to drag this out longer than neccessary.

"Umm...yeah I ummm...I'm an orphan, my parents died when I was just a toddler, before I gained any self awareness really. I don't even remember what they looked like." Karin replied sadly.

"I see. I'm very sorry for your loss Karin, I too am an orphan, and for a while I thought I was the last of my bloodline, but then I met Uzumaki Fuka, and now I have met Uzumaki Karin, so you could say I'm probably the happiest man in the world right now." Naruto said with a sincere and happy smile on his facial features.

"U-Uzumaki K-Karin?" Karin stuttered, eyes wide in shock and surprise as she looked at the blonde Uzumaki with hope in her eyes.

"You're a sensor type, I can tell, which means that you can tell that I'm also a sensor type. With that in mind, then you should know that I've developed my sensing abilities to a level where I can distinguish people by familial relations and even by nationalities to some extent, that is why I am sure that you are an Uzumaki, just like Fuka and I. Your sensing ability is strong too, but you lack training, in time you too should be able to reach my level of sensory ability. Your red hair, strong chakra and large chakra reserves are also dead giveaways of your lineage. You are without a shadow of doubt my cousin, you and I are family, and from now on nothing will ever seperate us." Naruto declared with confidence, sincerity, and conviction shining in his eyes.

"Y-you...you mean you and I are really family, and there's even another one of us called Fuka?" Karin stuttered, her head swirling as she felt like she was going to pass out because of the shock of the news.

"Indeed. There is so much I have to teach you about the Uzumaki clan, but before that, I just want to know quickly, how attached are you to Kusagakure no sato? You see I meant what I said, I'm not letting anyone or any village seperate us again now that I have found you. However, having said that, I wouldn't want to be presumptuous about your situation, which is why I'm asking just how attached you are to this village?" Naruto asked curiously, but also warily, under no illusions about how difficult it would be to lure Karin away from Kusa if she had any attachments there.

"I...are you...are you asking me to defect from Kusagakure no sato? To become a rogue ninja?" Karin asked fearfully.

"Yes, I am." Naruto deadpanned.

Honestly, she wanted nothing more than to rid herself of any connections to that horrible place. Literally no one was kind to her in Kusagakure, not even her teammates and sensei. For some reason her blood red hair seemed to rub people the wrong way and it also didn't help that there were no other people with red hair in Kusa, which made it obvious to everyone that her bloodline wasn't indigenous to Kusa. Her teammates were dead, they died pretty early in the exam and she would have too were it not for her stealth skills and her chakra extinguishing technique, a technique that gave her the ability to hide from even sensor type shinobi, she was just unlucky to have run into the abnormally large bear that attacked her.

In any case, there was definitely no love lost between her and Kusagakure no sato. The only reason she hadn't defected thus far was because she knew that she wouldn't last a month out there on her own, with bloodlusting hunter ninja coming after her and all the other dangerous people she would inevitably run into. She would have easily and happily accepted Naruto-kun's offer without breaking a sweat if she were not worried about his own health and survival.

"I...I'm sorry I can't. I can't put your life in jeopardy like that. If I defect, hunting ninja will be sent after me, and although you're strong, you're still just a genin, they'd kill you. Besides, how will you explain this to your own superiors? Will you beg them to take me in as a Konoha shinobi? How would that work? Why would they trust a traitor? What guarantee would they have that I wouldn't later defect from Kono..."

"Hey hey hey, relax. No one will know where you are. I'll have my summons take you to their land and you'll get high quality training there. Of course I'll visit you a lot and I'll help with your training too. When you complete your training and have become strong enough, we'll leave Konoha together. Don't worry, I've got many comrades, we have our own organisation, it's called The Bloodline. Everyone in the organisation is strong, strong enough to take on a Kage and win, that goes for me too. I'm only mascarading as a genin, but the truth is, I can take on an elite jonin and win, I even defeated my jonin sensei Hatake Kakashi in battle, you can ask anyone." Naruto said reassuringly.

"W-what? N-no way, I mean, I know you're not lying, I don't think you would and if you did I'd be able to sense it from your chakra, but still, this is so incredibly difficult to believe, it can't possibly...it just can't!"

"Hey hey, relax will ya. Calm down, I'll explain everything from the beginning so that you understand okay." Naruto said as he pulled Karin into a warm and loving embrace, Karin melting into his body as she held on to him as if holding on for dear life, snuggling her head into the crook of his neck.

 _'I wonder if this is the first hug she can remember ever having.'_ Naruto thought with a pained heart, vowing to make sure that Karin from here on out would always feel loved, treasured, and appreciated.

"Okay, it all started when..." Naruto began as he told Karin not only his story but the story of the entire Uzumaki clan as whole.

It took a whole hour to explain everything to Karin, all the while the two of them sitting in the middle of a clearing holding each other tightly as if they were on some sort of romantic getaway instead of a very dangerous shinobi war zone. Of course it didn't matter to talented sensor types like they were as they would be able to detect an enemy ninja approaching from miles away, so they were pretty much safe to do as they please, perhaps they could have even had passionate sex right then and there without any worries had they actually been lovers.

Nevertheless, Karin finally understood why Naruto was so confident, and why he was so strong. It made sense now that he had told her everything, and The Bloodline organisation, she couldn't wait to meet the other members of the organisation, she couldn't wait to meet Fuka onee-chan especially. The thought of how strong Naruto was going to make her excited her to no end, especially because it would enable her to not only be able to protect herself, but to be able to protect him and be of use to him and the organisation.

 _'I wonder what Bloodline Limit he will give to me? Will it even be neccessary if I master all the Uzumaki barrier jutsu, sealing jutsu, and ninjutsu? Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get something extra. I'll have to leave it to Naruto-kun to decide, he seems to know what he is doing.'_ Karin thought excitedly.

"Okay Naruto-kun, son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, I, Uzumaki Karin, your clan sister, effectively renounce my association with Kusagakure no Sato and will join you in your efforts to rebuild the Uzumaki clan and the Village Hidden in the Whirlpool Tides. I also accept your offer to join The Bloodline." Karin declared with unrestrained joy and excitement.

"Great, now let's hurry up and g..." Naruto trailed off, his shoulders stiffening slightly and his facial features becoming tense all of a sudden.

"W-what is it?" Karin asked nervously.

"Enemy shinobi approaching from the west. There is...aggression and sinister intent in their chakra."

"You can sense sinister intent as well?" Karin asked in awe.

"Yes I can. Brace yourself, they are moving really fast. These aren't normal genin, they may not even be real genin at all." Naruto said with a grave undertone, quickly pulling Karin up to her feet as he too braced himself for what was about to happen, Karin, heeding the warning, quickly extending her Mind's Kagura of the Eye in order to feel out the chakra of her would be attackers, surprised at just how fast they were travelling as they suddenly appeared in front of them, Karin unable to believe the sheer strength and potency of their chakra, confirming to herself that Naruto's analysis was indeed spot on as these were definitely not normal genin by any stretch of the imagination.

 _'Naruto-kun's chakra is also very strong, stronger than them actually, and he has an infinite amount of it. His chakra flow is also well refined, he's definitely a highly skilled individual. Plus, he has the kyubi. Maybe...maybe we'll be fine.'_ Karin thought, trying to reassure herself and deciding to trust in Naruto, after all, if he wasn't confident of victory then he would have chosen for them to run away instead of facing the enemy head on like this, right?

"Heh, how perculiar." The female in the group, the one with red hair, and a bandana on her head, said with a smirk full of malicious intent plastered on her facial features

"Yeah, I didn't expect him to have his girlfriend with him. What should we do, kill them both, or leave the girl?" The one in the middle, the very large boned one with an orange mowhawk, said with a genuinely thoughtful pose, as if really weighing the pros and cons of both choices.

"No Jirobo you fat fucking slob that's not what I was talking about. I'm talking about the fact that these two are both sensor types and sensed us coming a mile away and yet chose to stand there and wait for us to show ourselves. They are sensor types which means they have a very good idea about how strong we are, and yet there they are, nonchalantly sizing us up. It really fucking pisses me off when weaklings try to act tough." Tayuya said furiously.

"Tayuya, mind your language! A woman shouldn't...!" Jirobo managed to say before he was interupted by a slew of profanities that the redhead girl, now identified as Tayuya, threw back at him.

"Wait a minute Tayuya. If they can tell your approximate strength by the feel of your chakra, shouldn't you be able to in turn tell us how strong they are, since you know, you're a sensor type yourself?" The third member of the team, a boy with relatively short white hair and black lipstick, and what appeared to be a clone of himself attached to him on his back, said analytically.

"So fucking what, who told you that I'm a sensor type anyway? And who the hell am I talking to, is it Sakon or Ukon?" Tayuya exclaimed with completely unprovoked anger.

"It's Sakon you asshole I look and sound nothing like my brother." Sakon said irritably.

"What are you fucking kidding me?" Tayuya retorted incredulously.

"Guys come on. Let's not fight amongst each other, the enemy is in front of us." Jirobo tried to be the voice of reason as their leader and Tayuya continued to bicker.

"Okay fine, the blonde dipshit is strong, very strong. He is masking his true strength but I can tell, he is strong. At first I thought it was overkill to send the three of us but I understand now. Caution will be neccessary. As for the redhead brat, nah she's fucking useless. She has a lot of chakra, but it lacks potency and it's totally unrefined. She hasn't had much training. The blonde dipshit may be strong but clearly he has serious insecurities if he chose a weak bitch like her to be his mate." Tayuya said with a cruel smirk.

"Careful Tayuya-san, your jealousy is showing." Karin retorted with a vicious smirk of her own attached to her face.

"What did you say, you weak stinking asshole?" Tayuya exclaimed furiously.

"Hey that's enough you two. Family shouldn't fight, especially not in front of the enemy." Naruto reprimended the two redheads.

"W-what/What the fuck did you just say!" Karin and Tayuya both exclaimed, Karin in surprise and Tayuya with incredulity and indignity.

"I know Karin, it's an awefully strange coincidence, that I would run into two other Uzumaki on the same day, in the space of just over an hour, after searching for so many years for other Uzumaki ever since I ran into Fuka four years ago." Naruto said contemplatively.

"What the hell are you are talking about, you sunkissed piece of shit!" Tayuya said angrily.

"N-Naruto-kun's sensory abilities are arguably the best ever seen in the elemental nations, so much so that he can determine a person's nationality or even determine familial relations by the feel of a person's chakra. The Uzumaki clan are known for their large chakra reserves, strong chakra and bodies, and red hair, and you fit all three of these particulars to a letter, and then there is the fact that Naruto has sensed a connection between your chakra, his chakra, and my chakra, which means, without a shadow of doubt, that you are Uzumaki Tayuya, my cousin, Naruto-kun's cousin. The three of us, along with a comrade of Naruto-kun's known as Uzumaki Fuka, are the last living members of the great Uzumaki clan of The Village Hidden in the Whirlpool Tides." Karin explained as best she could, trying to cram in as much information as possible in the summary of information that she provided.

"Ha! Hahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahaha! I must hand it to the both you, you guys are quite the creative duo. I've never heard of a ninja trying to avoid death by claiming to be a family member of their would be killer. I would be impressed if it wasn't for the sheer incredulity of it all. I mean, The Great Uzumaki clan? The Village Hidden in the Whirlpool Tides? Please, as if such a thing ever existed." Sakon laughed maniacly.

"Tayuya, you're awfully quiet, it's how a woman should behave of course but it's completely unlike you. You don't actually believe this nonsense do you?" Jirobo asked with concern.

"Of course not! It's absolutely ridiculous, but..." Tayuya trailed off contemplatively.

"What is it, Tayuya?" Sakon asked forcefully, his amusement a thing of the past now as he too was overwhelmed with concern by Tayuya's uncharacteristic behaviour, more specifically the lack of profanties thrown back at Jirobo and her quiet and contemplative deameanor.

"Usually I can tell lies by evaluating the fluctuations of a person's chakra. It of course gets harder the more trained and the more skilled a person is with their chakra, and also based on a person's natural temperament and aptitude for lying. With that said, it wouldn't have been too surprising if I didn't get an accurate read on the dipshit's chakra, his chakra is well refined and you can tell he has experience in masking his emotions, but the red eyed bitch, her chakra is easy to read, and she didn't lie, everything she said she believed to be the truth." Tayuya explained her dilemma.

"Yes but you heard what blonde brat said right? About how he couldn't believe his luck to have ran into two Uzumaki in the space of an hour? You get it right? He only met her just over an hour ago and obviously brainwashed her with that nonsense. Maybe he has a thing for redhead girls and that's how he wins them over. Ask yourself this, if the Uzumaki clan is identifiable by their brilliant red hair, and he's an Uzumaki, then why does he have blonde hair and not red hair?" Sakon argued vehemently, not believing for a second the bullshit that the blonde brat was trying to sell them, Tayuya's eyes snapping up and glaring at the blonde Uzumaki as realistion dawned on her.

"Orochimaru must either be a total idiot or a complete sadist for sending you three after me without properly debriefing you. I'm the Yondaime Hokage's only son, that's why I have blonde hair. If it wasn't for his ridiculously strong genes then I too would have red hair just like my mother, just like all the members of my family." Naruto deadpanned.

To say the sound 3 were shocked would be like saying Naruto likes ramen, a massive understatement, the three of them staring at the blonde Uzumaki with wide eyes and hanging mouths as their minds began to work overtime to try and process what they just heard.

No matter how much their basic insticts told them to reject that information and discard it like trash, they just couldn't escape the image of the Yondaime Hokage in their minds, or rather, couldn't escape the obvious resemblance he had with the blonde boy standing right in front of them, and at that point it was no longer possible for them to convince themselves that the blonde Uzumaki was lying to them as it became too obvious that he really was who he said he was.

"I...I don't believe it! How could we have...how could Orochimaru-sama...?" Sakon trailed off in shock, unable to complete a single coherent sentence.

"Do you guys even know why Orochimaru wants me out of the way? Well, he doesn't seem like the type to tolerate any sort of questioning and if he didn't tell you I'm guessing that you didn't bother to ask, for your own sakes, right?" Naruto asked rhetorically, their silence serving as confirmation to him that they really didn't know why they were supposed to eliminate the blonde Uzumaki, Naruto sighing heavily as he thought about what a complete asshole Orochimaru was.

"I guess I have no choice but to tell you. You see there is one other thing you do not know about the Uzumaki clan, well, actually there's a whole lot but one in particular is relevant to the situation. The Uzumaki clan had a bloodline limit-like affinity for the sealing arts and barrier arts branch of ninjutsu, we were so good that conventional seal masters were literally equivalent to an Uzumaki novice. Now you can imagine, being the son of the Yondaime Hokage, who was revered for his sealing and barrier arts expertise, and Uzumaki Kushina, thee heiress to the Great Uzumaki clan, how good I must be in these arts. Orochimaru sought my help to complete those very seals that you have on your necks, and to help him to advance and improve on the Edo Tensei. He met me through Kabuto, who is my friend and mentor. However, he must have decided that I am a potential threat that he absolutely cannot ignore, or he must have decided that I know too much about his plans and sent you three after me." Naruto explained, taking a moment to catch his breathe before continuing with his explanation.

"As far as putting Tayuya-chan in the team, I have no idea what he was thinking. It might be that he doesn't know she is an Uzumaki, or it might be that he did it for his own amusement or out of curiosity to find out what would happen. If he's anything like Kabuto, which is my impression that they are very much similar in personality, then I wouldn't be surprised if it's the latter. However I am afraid he miscalculated." Naruto declared confidently.

"H-how so?" Sakon asked curiously, his mission to assassinate the blonde jinchuuriki seemingly long forgotten, at least for now.

"I told you, everyone else is a novice compared to an Uzumaki seal master. I have the means to easily remove Orochimaru's control over you that he has obtained via the cursed seal. Tayuya, I can free you of Orochimaru's control, without you losing the power of the curse seal. It would take me no more than a three minutes to do it, maybe less. The two of you, I mean, three of you, Sakon, Ukon, and Jirobo, I can free you too. Tayuya, I won't force you, but you're welcome to join us in our efforts to rebuild and preserve what remains of the clan, and to join my organisation, The Bloodline."

"W-what! No fucking way! You're the leader of The Bloodline?" Tayuya exclaimed in shock and surprise.

"Yes, but I'm surprised you even know about us. We've gone to great lengths to keep our existence a secret." Naruto replied.

"I was tasked with the investigation. I took a crew of our best trackers and spies and all we were able to figure out was that you work in two man cells and hunt down bloodline limit users. We never got a single name or proper description of any of the members." Tayuya explained.

"I guess it was fate then that we would end up meeting like this. Fate has been trying to unite us for quite a while it seems and it has finally succeeded. Sakon, Jirobo, what say you? Do you want to be free of Orochimaru's control? You don't have to join me, you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want, or you can join The Bloodline, it's really up to you. Tayuya, I'd prefer we stay together because we're family, but it's up to you as well, I don't want to use fear and opression to control my comrades like Orochimaru, I prefer that you choose to follow me of your own volition. I'll free you of his control no matter what you decide..."

"No thanks!" Sakon exclaimed suddenly.

"What?" Naruto asked with an eyebrow raised in confusion, unable to understand why this guy wouldn't want to be released from his shackles.

"No thanks! Call him what you will, but Orochimaru-sama has done a lot for us. He trained us, gave us a home, gave us something to live for, and gave us this power of the curse seal. What can you do for us? What can you do better than him?" Sakon asked rhetorically.

"I can give you a powerful bloodline limit for starters." Naruto deadpanned.

"W-what?" Jirobi stuttered, echoing his, Sakon's, and Tayuya's thoughts as well.

"I have created the ultimate forbidden jutsu, a jutsu called the chimera no jutsu. Put simply, this jutsu enables me to fuse an entire corpse of a bloodline user into another person at a molecular level, allowing the person to obtain not only the bloodline limit of the deceased, but also access to his or her memories, jutsu, experience, and skills. Do you get it now, if I am going to rebuild Whirlpool, I need the village to have powerful people as leaders of the founding clans, that is why I created this jutsu, to ensure that all the clans have powerful kekkei genkei users. In other words, The Members of the Bloodline will be the founding members and clead heads of New Whirlpool. You could become part of this legacy too, all you have to do is to allow me to help you to cut down your shackles." Naruto explained.

"That...is amazing, honestly, it's incredible, inspirational even. However, the answer is no. We will not betray Orochimaru-sama." Sakon spoke on behalf of his team.

 _'He is loyal to a fault, and ridiculously stubborn. However, what will he do when he hears this..."_ Naruto trailed off with a sinister mental smirk.

"Okay, I have to assume that you have no idea what your role really is in Orochimaru's plans do you?" Naruto asked with a bored tone.

"My role is to destroy all of Orochimaru-sama's enemies." Sakon stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Just as I thought, you guys really have no idea do you?" Naruto said with mock sadness.

"Just fucking spill it shit stain! What the hell are you talking about!" Tayuya exclaimed impatiently.

"The elite sound 5, are nothing more than Orochimaru's future vessels. The reason why Orochimaru can cause you pain and paralyze you via the cursed seal is because he has sealed a part of his essence inside of the seal. However, the ability to cause you pain and paralyze you is not just so that he can control you, it is so that you won't be able to fight back when he is ready to take over your body, and the other reason for sealing his essence into the seal is to gradually alter your body to make it more compatible with him, and make it easier for him to take over you and suppress you." Naruto revealed much to the sound 3's horror.

"N-not possible! He wouldn't...he...oh who am I fucking kidding, of course that creepy bastard would!" Tayuya thought out loud, shifting between moods rapidly, from disbelief and shock to acceptance, frustration, and most all, anger, anger at Orochimaru for using her the way that he did, and anger at herself for deluding herself into thinking he would treat her any different from how he treated everyone else.

"Watch your mouth Ta..."

"No fuck you Ukon!"

"It's Sakon!"

"Whatever! Fuck you and the sound 4 and especially that creepy bastard Orochimaru! I'm not getting buttraped and swallowed by that slimy creep! Hey dipshit you serious, you can really get that...that slimy creep out of me? You can give me a bloodline limit and you really are my cousin?" Tayuya asked consecutively.

"Yes, yes to all of your questions. All you have to do is to take..." Naruto trailed off as Tayuya, in the blink of an eye, moved so fast that Karin couldn't even move a finger before Tayuya had already grabbed her and jumped onto a branch on the large tree that was a few metres behind her.

"I'll take the red eyed bitch with me, as insurance while you fight those two slabs of dick cheese. If you can defeat them then it will help me to believe that you really are who you say you are. The leader of an organisation as powerful as The Bloodline should be able to hold his own pretty well in a fight don't you think?" Tayuya asked tauntingly.

 _'She's smart. If I win then she gets re-assured that I really am who I say I am and that she made the right decision, and she knows I won't kill her for her insolence because she's family, and I can't afford to lose family members given how few of them I have. She also knows, because of her chakra sensing ability, that I'm strong enough that even if I lose, I might have killed one of them or I might have taken so much out of them that she can easily just finish off the other and return to Orochimaru with Karin as her prize, someone talented enough to more than replace these two if trained properly. She's playing it safe by playing both sides and siding with the victor. Well, actually she is choosing me but in a way that if her decision is wrong she can still cover it up and return back to Orochimaru without being outed as a traitor.'_ Naruto thought with realisation, unable to contain the smirk that involuntarily morphed into his facial features.

"Tche! I always knew you weren't reliable, you witch! You better be sure that we'll be coming after you next when we're done with this brat." Jirobo said furiously.

"I'll just kick your fat ass like I always do, you stupid asshole." Tayuya retorted.

"Leave her be, Jirobo! We'll deal with her later. The mission comes first." Sakon orderd authoratively.

 _'They must not know that Naruto-kun is a jinchuuriki, much less a perfect one, otherwise there is no way they would be so over-confident. I really can't tell whether Orochimaru is an idiot or a sadist for sending them in so unprepared.'_ Karin thought with a sadistic smirk of her own, totally forgetting that she was in a hostage situation right now, such was the confidence that she had in Naruto.

"I'm going to give you one more chance to..."

"Enough!" Sakon exclaimed, interupting the blonde Uzumaki before he could finish making his offer.

"We have been sent here to eliminate you, and that is exactly what we will do!" Sakon ground out furiously.

"Yeah, sorry but your time has run out, tree hugger." Jirobo added.

"Alright then, I guess I'll be adding your corpses to my collection." Naruto declared as he formed two spiraling spheres of bright blue chakra on each one of his hands.

"N-no way..." Sakon stuttered, eyes wide in surprise as he stared in disbelief at the blonde jinchuuriki's jutsu.

"What the hell is that jutsu? It looks dangerous." Jirobo asked warily.

"I know that jutsu. Orochimaru-sama told me about it once. It's the Fourth Hokage's original jutsu, the rasengan. Careful Jirobo, one hit with that thing and we're done for." Sakon warned his partner.

"Okay." Jirobo said with a little disinterest in his tone.

"Listen, let's spread out. The rasengan is a close range assassination type jutsu. The Fourth Hokage used his insane speed and instantaneous teleportation in combination with the rasengan in order to land hits on multiple targets almost simultaneously. I'm guessing that the kid is also fast but as he hasn't pulled out and distributed any tri pronged kunai around the battlefield, then I'm guessing he hasn't learned or mastered the Yondaime's Hiraishin no jutsu. He is still probably fast just like his father though so caution will have to be excercised." Sakon trailed off as he moved to his right and Jirobi to his left, the two of them putting a good distance between each other so that Naruto wouldn't be able to attack them simultaneously like he seemed to want to, given that he had created a rasengan on each one of his hands.

"Jirobo, activate level one. We'll need it to counter against his alleged speed." Sakon ordered as black seal markings began to spread from his shoulder and all over his body, the same thing happening to Jirobo shortly afterwards, their chakra spiking significantly up in quantity and potency, becoming denser, stronger, thicker, and much more sinister.

 **"Flying Rasengan."** Naruto said with a low tone after he extended both his hands and pointed his palms, more specifically the spiralling spheres in his arms, at his opponents, the left palm aimed at Sakon and the right at Jirobo, and the rasengans shooting off immediately after he said the name of the technique at near unreadable speeds towards their targets.

Neither Sakon nor Jirobo were able to react at all, first of all because the spheres were way too fast, and secondly because the attack was completely unexpected as they had no idea that the rasengan could be used at mid/long range like that, the spheres hitting them dead centre on their torsos with so much force that they were sent flying away rapidly, their bodies colliding into numerous trees and breaking right through them as said trees were sent crashing into the ground. It felt like they must have been airborn for miles before Sakon and Jirobo finally hit the surface, crashing so hard that large craters and trenches were formed by their impact on the earth.

"W-what the fuck dipshit! I thought that was a supposed to be a close combat technique, Sakon is big on collecting information about the greats of the past, he wouldn't say something like that unless he had thoroughly researched that jutsu." Tayuya exclaimed, shock and disbelief still permeable in her tone as she couldn't believe what she just saw with her own eyes.

"I took my father's jutsu and improved on it of course. That's what the new generation is supposed to do, to surpass the old guard, to prevent stagnation and recession, to promote progression. Although, those were normal rasengan that I used, propelled forward with a super charged wind blast, that's all there is to the _flying rasengan_ technique." Naruto explained simply.

"I...I see. That's still very impressive, you can use the rasengan without putting your own body on the line like the Yondaime did. However, I wouldn't celebrate so soon if I were you." Tayuya said as she looked behind the blonde Uzumaki at her three, yes, three former teammates as they came back into the clearing.

 **"You brat! Can you imagine what it is like when you expect to take a long ass nap and a little brat decides he's going to try and kill your twin brother to whom you are fused and within you are sleeping, taking away a good chunk of your sleeping time and not to mention, almost causing your nap time to become permanent."** said well, for lack of a better term, a total monster looking person, walking alongside another monster looking person who happened to look almost exactly like the monster that just spoke.

"You must be Ukon then. It's nice of you to finally join us, but more importantly, I'm impressed by your collective regeneration abilities. That rasengan should have completely obliterated your insides, and yet here you all are, completely recovered. I never imagined activating curse seal level 2 would have such an amazing effect." Naruto said with genuine intrigue.

 **"You almost killed us you fat little prick! I'll kill you!"** Jirobo exclaimed furiously.

"I'm the fat one?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

 **"Enough!"** Sakon exclaimed with anger and impatience as he, in the blink of an eye, covered the distance between himself and Naruto and delivered a powerful back kick straight into Naruto's abdomen, or at least tried to as Naruto's reflexes were quick enough for him to put his guard up just in the nick of time.

However, the kick was so powerful that it completely shattered Naruto's defenses, breaking through his guard and landing square on his abdoment, sending the blonde flying away and crashing right through a solid tree and into the ground, creating a large crater where he landed.

Despite the obvious pain, the blonde Uzumaki was very quick to get back up on his feet, knowing that death would be swift and brutal if he dwardled for even a split second, although that didn't stop him from coughing up a ton of blood from his mouth as his internal organs were completely crushed by the horned, monster looking twin.

 _'That was fast, way too fast! He's definitely faster than me, faster than Kakashi and Zabuza even, and defintely physically stronger than Kakashi.'_ Naruto thought as he struggled to get back on his feet.

If he had to be honest with himself, Naruto would say that, without tapping into the Kyubi's chakra or using any special enhancement techniques beyond normal chakra enhancement, his speed was around that of a standard jonin, perhaps just a little above, and so was his strength. That was no slight on him, as achieving the level of jonin is an extremely difficult task that requires endless hours of training and natural talent. It is genuinely considered a great achievement for someone to reach that level, as less than a quarter of the entire shinobi force is even able to reach that level, and for someone to reach that level at the age of twelve is extremely rare even amongst the greatest of prodigies and genius level ninja.

Needless to say, reaching such a level, at any age, automatically makes you formidable ninja who is very difficult to kill. However, there are those special ninja even within this tier who are considered greater than the others, ninja who are perhaps not at the level of a kage but are also clearly above the standard jonin level, ninja who are somewhere between the two tiers. These ninja are known simply as elite level jonin or just elite jonin. People like Kakashi, the late Momochi Zabuza, and Yuki Haku fall within this tier.

Now it was true that Naruto was responsible for the deaths of Zabuza and Haku, however, it was also true that he didn't directly engage them and relied solely on his summons to fight them. The truth of the matter, and Naruto was acutely aware of it, was the fact that he had never defeated an elite jonin level ninja without either the use of the kyubi's chakra or relying on his summons. When he defeated Gatsu all those years ago, he had relied heavily on the kyubi's chakra, and when he defeated Haku and Zabuza he had relied on his summons.

Sure, he defeated Kakashi without the use of either of those external advantages, however the circumstances were especially unique in that battle. For one, Kakashi had no killing intent as it was a mere training/evaluation excercise. Secondly, Kakashi's mind was filled to the brim with false information about him, information that told the exact opposite about Naruto's threat level. And finally, Naruto had intimate intel on Kakashi that made it easy for him to prey on his weaknesses. Simply put, the odds were heavily stacked in Naruto's favor and the surprise element was too great for Kakashi to overcome at the time.

Nevetheless, it said a lot about Naruto's opponents that their speed and strength were above the elite level ninja that Naruto had faced before, it really was no wonder that they were chosen as Orochimaru's elite guard and personal bodyguards. Truth of the matter was that were it not for Naruto's high level sensing ability he would not have even been able to react at all to Sakon's attack because the guy was way faster than he was. It was only because his chakra sensing ability is so advanced that it gives him a sort of pre-cogntion ability to be able to sense movements via the movement of a person's chakra that he was able to react at all, and that was saying something considering the fact that Naruto had above jonin level skill, speed, and physical strength.

Still, despite being at a disadvantage, the blonde Uzumaki had absolutely no intention of using the fox's chakra, because he was currently working diligently on a way to possibly but permanently seperate himself from the fox in the future. The reason for this was because until he did exactly that, he would not be able to use the chimera no jutsu on himself as the fox was interfering with the process.

Since he was planning to get rid of the fox in the future, he knew that now already he needed to start getting used to not relying on its power and winning his battles solely on his own power, which is why he was not going to even entertain the thought of using it to defeat the enemies before him.

 **"The fox mut is still alive? You must be losing your touch, brother."** Ukon said casually, although with a hint of surprise in his tone.

 **"I'm certain that I crushed his insides. He must have some kind of high speed regeneration ability."** Sakon replied in his defense.

 **"Then let us crush his entire body into a pulp and see if he can regenerate from that."** Jirobo said angrily.

 **"Okay, you stay where you are Jirobo and wait for a clear opening, and then you crush him into a pulp. Sakon and I will create the opening, if we do not crush him ourselves that is."** Ukon ordered authoratively.

 **"Got it."** Jirobo said excitedly.

 _'They're about to attack, together this time. I barely survived Sakon's attack and I'll surely die as I am if I don't do something. I guess it's time to test out that technique then.'_ Naruto thought as he focussed his mind, his body, and his chakra, preparing for the most difficult battle of his life thus far, just as well too as the twins came at him with incredible speed.

However, this time Naruto was able to completely evade their attacks, moving silently, without so much as a sound and yet at incredible speed as he bobbed, weaved, ducked, and ran away from Sakon and Ukon's attacks, running of course, because he quickly realised after just five counter attacks that his punches and kicks only slightly hurt these guys but not enough to stop them from pressing their attack. One time he tried to form an instant rasengan and counter attack but it seemed they were extremely wary of that after what happened last time as they were very quick to react and move away from him every time he so much as gathered chakra on his palm.

 _'Shit!'_ Naruto thought as Jirobo came at him from his blind spot, at a speed that Naruto did not expect at all from a man of his size, the big boned teen throwing a downward punch at the blonde Uzumaki, hitting thin air of course as the blonde Uzumaki was quickly out of there, almost as if he disappeared completely from Jirobo's eye sight, or did he really disappear? Jirobo had no idea as the momentum of his attack was such that he hit the ground at full force with his punch, the punch so powerful that it completely reshaped the landscape, causing earthquake like effects as the earth rippled, concaved, and broke into large slabs of debri, trees around the clearing falling and hitting the ground hard as a result, a priceless look appearing on Karin and Naruto's facial features as they looked on in shock at the big boned teen's handy work.

 _'T-that's...that's insane! If Naruto-kun had been hit with that he would have surely died even with his regenerative ability!'_ Karin thought fearfully.

 _'It would have been bad if I had been hit with that attack. I can't believe he is so much stronger than the twins, and those guys are ridiculously strong themselves.'_ Naruto thought warily.

 **"Oi oi oi! What's going on here? Last time I checked this guy could barely follow my movements and now he is making us miss like a bunch of amateurs. It's like he is completely different from just a few minutes ago."** Sakon complained.

 **"Shunpo no jutsu."** Naruto said simply.

 **"Am I supposed to know what the hell that is?"** Sakon asked rudely.

"It's a jutsu I created, it's a wind style technique. It's a wind style that surrounds my body, eliminating wind pressure and wind resistance, whilst also boosting up my shunshin technique. The result is faster bodily movements, significantly increased foot speed, and of course a much faster shunshin technique. With this jutsu, combined with my incredible sensing abilities, I am able to quite comfortably anticipate and evade your attacks." Naruto explained casually.

 **"Heh! I have to give you props for creativity and ninjutsu talent for creating such an awesome technique, and to top it off you even mastered the Yondaime's rasengan and took it to a new level entirely by using it as a long range destructive bullet. However, we won't allow ourselves to be hit by your flying rasengan again and your physical attacks barely affect us in this version 2 cursed seal state. Running away isn't going to win you this battle and if you cannot defeat us then Tayuya will just take that red eyed bitch back to Orochimaru-sama since you couldn't convince her that you are worth defecting for. You are going to lose everything."** Sakon taunted the blonde Uzumaki with joy and glee in his eyes.

"I can see right through your act, Sakon. You're trying to bait me into attacking you desperately and therefore recklessly, because you know that it won't be easy to catch me due to my extraodinary speed, super reflexes, and sensing abilities. You're worried that this is essentially a stalemate, and that is because there is a time limit to how long you can stay in curse seal level 2 mode isn't it?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

 **"Why you little...!"** Sakon trailed off angrily.

"Well, of course I have no intention of dragging this out myself, nor do I have any intention of allowing you to escape with your lives..." Naruto trailed off ominously.

 **"What? Ahahahahaaha! You actually think that you stand a chance against us? Mark my words Yondaime's brat, we'll finish you off in the next 6 moves."** Ukon this time replied arrogantly.

"You assume that you have seen everything I can do, but you couldn't even begin to grasp the true power of my rasengan fighting style. However I do acknowlede your strength, you guys are at the top of the elite class of ninja already, you would probably be able to take out even a kage level ninja as a team, and in just a few years you would have probably been able to each individual possess a power comparable to that of a Kage. However, this is the end of the road for you. Out of respect for your skill, and in acknowledgement of your power, allow me to show you my ultimate technique..." Naruto trailed off as his chakra spiked up massively, his whole body instantly becoming covered in powerful, clearly visible chakra shroud.

 **"W-what the hell is that thing surrounding his body?"** Jirobo sputtered nervously, never in his life having felt such a strong chakra before, or even seen anything even remotely resembling the kind of chakra that was surrounding the blonde Uzumaki.

 **"The potency and frequency of that chakra is ridiculous, and the rapid spin in multiple directions, it's like his rasengan jutsu, but channeled around his entire body instead of just on his palm."** Ukon said warily.

"Congratulations Ukon, that was a fabulous analysis. This indeed is a full body rasengan. This is my **rasen chakra no yoroi** , it is both my ultimate defensive technique and my ultimate offensive technique. It is essentialy what you call a nintaijutsu technique."

 **"Spiraling chakra armour? Nintaijutsu? Ultimate Defense and Offense?"** Sakon repeated disbelievingly.

"Yes. Essentially, trying to punch me now would be the same as attempting to punch through a rasengan, in other words, my defense is impenetrable. Of course it goes without saying that when I punch or kick you it will also be the same as being hit with a direct rasengan. Not only that but this jutsu isn't just a shroud that surrounds my body, there is an internal chain reaction occurring as well. The rapid flunctions and movements of my chakra shroud occur internally as well, the result being an exponential increase in my chakra frequency and circulation, causing a massive increase in speed, senses, reflexes, and physical strength. The three of you, in other words, have absolutely no hope, but don't bother to surrender, I have no intention of taking prisoners." Naruto declared apathetically.

 **"Hn! You underestimate us, Kiroi senko no gaki."** Ukon said as he re-merged with his brother, turning into what Naruto could only describle as a two headed monster, argmenting their already monstrous looking forms.

 _'Merging with my idiot brother is just a distraction to make him cautious and therefore buy us time. Our match fighting style isn't going to do shit to this guy with his entire body turning to a humanoid rasengan. That rasengan jutsu was powerful as hell, and there is no jutsu in our arsenal that can penetrate that, even Jirobo's super strength won't do shit against that. The only time before now that I ever felt the need to escape from an enemy was when we faced Kimimaro. I never thought I would meet someone that would make me feel this much fear again. Uzumaki Naruto, you really are the kiroi senko's son.'_ Ukon thought, similar thoughts going through his bother and Jirobo's minds.

 **"You're not the only one with an ultimate defensive move. Let's show him, Sakon!"** Ukon exclaimed, both Sakon's and Jirobo's eyes lighting up as realisation dawned on them.

They both knew of course what jutsu Ukon was reffering to, that being the jutsu that Orochimaru had personally taught to the twins, the summoning technique: Rashomon Gate. However, as there was obvious no offensive benefit for this jutsu, especially in a taijutsu battle, it was clear that the gate was merely a wall meant to shield and hide them during their escape and to stop the blonde Uzumaki from following them, in other words, Ukon had just discretely called for a complete retreat.

 **"Okay, let's do it, broth..er!"** Sakon trailed off in shock and pain, he and his brother unable to even begin their hand seal sequence as, in the blink of an eye, the blonde Uzumaki had already covered the distance between them and delivered a devastating punch right in the middle of the torso of the conjoined twins, blowing a wide hole right at the centre of their tummy, so wide that Tayuya and Karin, who were standing at a safe distance high on a tree, could clearly see through to the other side.

 **"I...impossible!"** Sakon sputtered, eyes wide in shock and pain as their conjoined form slowly fell backwards, their bodies splitting up before they hit the ground as their jutsu was undone, Ukon having died instantly when the attack landed as his corpse lay still on the ground, three quarters of his torso missing as it was blown to smitherines.

"It seems your brother protected you by re-arranging your cell structure so that he can take the majority of the damage. A noble but futile gesture." Naruto said as he cocked his fist back and prepared to finish off the other twin.

 **"W-wait! Y-you bastard...!"** Were the younger twin's last words as Naruto delivered a devasting punch right at the centre of his chest, the effects of Naruto's rasen chakra no yoroi enhanced strength devastating the earth even more than Jirobo's punch had previous done, exponentially so as there was absolutely no comparison between their attacks, Karin and Tayuya as a result forced to move even further away from the battle as the tree they were standing on, and the trees around it, were sent crashing into the ground.

"Two down, one more to go." Naruto said as he turned around to face the last member of the sound three.

"Don't think I forgot you, Jirobo." Naruto said ominously, Jirobo's legs visibly shaking as he felt the kind of fear that he only ever felt when he incited the ire of either Orochimaru or Kimimaro.

"Do not be afraid, I'm not the type that likes to play with my prey, not when I get serious like this. It will be over in an instant." Naruto said with an emotion deficient tone.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Okay, so that's it for this chapter.**

 **Yes, Naruto has developed his own nintaijutsu which happens to be a full body rasengan. It's a jutsu of a similar calibre to the Raikage's Raiton no yoroi, and it's just one of Naruto's rasengan variations.**

 **In this chapter you saw the flying rasengan and the rasen chakra no yoroi, in the future you will see other variations that Naruto has developed.**

 **So Naruto has finally found another Uzumaki, not one but two on the exact same day, what a lucky guy huh?**

 **You can probably already guess that they will join the bloodline yes? Indeed. I already have plans for Karin's abilities, she's gonna be super strong, trust me. I got plans for Tayuya too.**

 **So Naruto wants to part with the fox so that he can use the chimera no jutsu on himself? It won't be easy though and it won't be that straight forward. Plus I've got a nice little twist there that none of you will see coming.**

 **Anyway here is the list of bloodline members thus far.**

 **Saitama and Genos**

 **Gatsu and Partner (not mentioned yet in the story so I won't spoil it)**

 **Fuka and Esdese**

 **Suzumebachi and Partner (not mentioned in the story yet so I won't spoil)**

 **Tayuya and Karin.**

 **Naruto**

 **I'm considering Fu and honestly considered making Karin the rokubi jinchuuriki (slug would fit her medical background you know) but with Naruto planning to rid himself of the kyubi am not sure he would then make someone else a jinchuuriki especially someone he cares about and especially with the threat of Akatsuki looming.**

 **So far I have decided on a different power for Karin and not to recruit Fu. This is about the only real dilemma I have as far as how to move forward otherwise everything else is already planned out.**

 **Oh wait, I also have a dilemma about Yakumo. Honestly, when I started this story I intended for her to be a main character and a main pairing to Naruto, but now I'm not sure I even want her in the story at all.**

 **I'll figure it all out though I'm sure.**

 **Anyway thanks for reading and am looking forward to your feedback.**


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